


Muse

by Circe87



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Kylo Ren, Drinking Games, Explicit Language, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Not Related, Painting, Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn, ballet dancer Rey, club
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-04-29 18:43:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14478843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Circe87/pseuds/Circe87
Summary: Kylo is a haunted artist that prefers to be alone. He is lacking inspiration. He is forced to work with a group of peppy ballet dancers and just might find his muse when he least expects it.





	1. Routine

**Author's Note:**

> I have this story completely outlined and plan to finish it. I got the inspiration for this story from paintings from my favorite modern impressionist. His name is Leonid Afremov and I will reference some of his paintings. 
> 
> This story will rotate POV between Kylo and Rey. It will show the day from Kylo's POV then the next chapter will show the same day with Rey until they interact more. I promise it won't feel repetitive.

 

_I can’t remember when it was good_

_Moments of happiness elude_

_Maybe I just misunderstood_

 

_All of the love we left behind_

_Watching the flashbacks intertwine_

_Memories I will never find_

 

_Falling Away with You –Muse_

Routine. Kylo Ren thrives on routine and the smell of fresh oil paint. His routine starts with a fresh clear acrylic palette in his hands and ear buds in his ears. He uses his thumb and index finger to squeeze out a drop of 505 Perylene black oil paint and a drop of 748 Zinc white onto the palette. He uses a palette knife to slowly mix varying shades of gray until he has filled the palette with a wide array of gray paint. Then he grabs his set of palette knives and gets to work. He never uses a paintbrush and he never uses any colors even though he owns every color under the sun. Brushes are more precise, but there is just something about holding a blade. The scraping sound against canvas calms him and helps him focus. People always give him colored paint for gifts trying to encourage him to incorporate color into his art. He can’t remember a time when he has felt inspired to branch away from his melancholy grayscale. 

The technique Kylo uses requires focus and a large time commitment. Using palette knives to paint he follows the influence of past impressionists; the best of which was his grandfather Darth Vader. Vader was famous for his depictions of space with swirling black holes, massive planets, and skyscapes full of stars. His real name was Anakin Skywalker but he went by Vader to keep his real life private. He was a visionary before space travel was even possible; before there were images from space. Kylo focuses on rain and water; it haunts his dreams and is the subject in almost every painting. The palette knife allows him to smear the paint together to create the illusion of rain on the street but in order to achieve this illusion the painting has to be finished in one session; if the paint dries the effect is ruined. It requires focus and dedication, which means he doesn’t have time to socialize. He spends his days and most of his evenings painting at First Order Studios seeking absolution from his past and hoping to live up to his grandfather’s legacy. Each night he cleans up his palette and goes home, eats some take out and goes to sleep, then he returns the next day to do it all again. Routine.

Despite his strict routine he is going to be late to work. He spent the night like he does most nights. Tossing and turning trying to find sleep; sleep constantly evades him. Usually when he can’t sleep he will do a quick workout to wear him out, and because of this he works out a lot. When he finally did fall asleep it was a blur of images from the past. Images he has tried desperately to forget but they haunt him in his dreams: screaming, cars, rain, a blur of colors that fade to grey and black, and an incessant beeping sound that would not stop. He jolts awake to find that the beeping had been his alarm but it hadn’t woken him up.

“Fuck! Damn alarm,” he yells out. He hops out of bed and rushes to the bathroom. In the mirror he sees someone he doesn’t even recognize. He has black hair that goes just above his shoulders, deep amber colored eyes but they are surrounded by deep dark circles that show his lack of sleep. The scar across his face runs from his right cheek down to his clavicle; the everyday reminder of things he wishes he could forget. He quickly showers and throws on a black button up shirt, a black suit and a black tie. Usually he would wear a black t-shirt with black jeans but he won’t be painting today. He fixes his hair, puts ear buds in his ears, grabs a protein bar and rushes out the door. He lives ten minutes from the studio so he always walks but since he is running late he uses an app to arrange a car to pick him up. He would take the subway, but there are just too many people. He doesn’t need another source of anxiety today. He gives the driver directions to the studio and then turns the sound up on his iPhone. It’s the best way to avoid awkward silence.

~~~~

First Order Studios is in a giant concrete building with sharp modern edges and a sleek glass front that gives a peek at the gallery. The inside is almost clinical; it has high ceilings, the walls are pewter gray and the floors are concrete with a shiny black finish. At the front of the building is the gallery that features the art produced at First Order Studios. Each painting is displayed with soft lighting that makes the black and white on the canvas pop against the gray wall. As he enters the gallery he sees an extremely tall woman with short blonde hair in a sleek black pencil skirt, a silver silk top and black high heels talking to an uptight man with red hair and a pristine gray suit. 

“You’re late! You know how Snoke gets when we start late,” says the woman tersely. The uptight man just rolls his eyes and glares at his expensive watch.

“Nice to see you too, Phasma,” Kylo grumbles. “Hux,” he acknowledges with a groan and a small lift of his chin. He can’t help but be annoyed that he has to spend the day arguing with Phasma, Hux and Snoke. He would much rather be in the back in his private studio painting. Hux and Phasma were his roommates in college. They are his best friends, but they drive him crazy and he would still prefer to be alone working.

Gwendolyn Phasma is the art director of the gallery. She hates her first name and just goes by Phasma most of the time. She is in charge of creating and hosting events in the gallery as well as choosing how the pieces are displayed and making Kylo look good. She prefers to avoid meeting with Snoke; they all do really, but she can’t help being frustrated that the meeting is starting out on the wrong foot.

Armitage Hux runs the business end of First Order Studios. He seeks out high-end buyers for the gallery shows and draws in clients that want to commission Kylo’s work. He also manages the mass production and sale of cheaper copies of the paintings that are put into calendars or made as posters for those that can’t afford the exclusive originals. It is all about money at First Order Studios and Hux will squeeze a quick buck out of anything Kylo produces.

“Let’s get going, I don’t want to be any later.” Hux pauses looking Kylo up and down, “Honestly Kylo, you look like shit! Did you even sleep last night?”

“Shut up Hux!” Kylo shakes his head and mumbles. Typical Hux, stickler for time and blunt as can be; he tells it exactly how it is. If he could throw him across the room he would right now.

“If Snoke takes it out on us you are buying us drinks.” Hux motions for them to go back out the door. There is a town car waiting to take them to The Supremacy to meet with Snoke. 

The Supremacy is a theater that hosts operas, ballets and plays. It is just a few blocks away from First Order Studios. Snoke has been trying to get his hand in all aspects of the arts; he owns First Order Studios as well as several production companies and other small businesses. The Supremacy is a recent acquisition to Snoke. The previous owner died and didn’t have any family to leave it to, which was the perfect opportunity for Snoke to buy it for a decent price. He called a meeting to discuss the role he wants Kylo, Hux and Phasma to play at the theater.

As the town car pulls in front of the theater Kylo is anxious and incredibly agitated. The theater is nothing like the studio. The studio is modern and clean, which is comfortable to him. The theater is old. There are stone pillars on the outside and a stone staircase up the front that give it that distinct opera house feel. It isn’t the first time he has been here and it feels like he is seeing old ghosts from his past. He knows he is going to have to face these ghosts sooner or later now that Snoke owns The Supremacy, but he is going to try to avoid it at all costs.

“Are you ok? You look like you are going to puke,” Phasma whispers to Kylo while awkwardly patting his left shoulder two times in a failed attempt to comfort him. He has his hand on the massive golden door handle and is completely frozen in place. 

“Perfect.” He deadpans. “Let’s get this over with so we can get the hell out of this piece of garbage.” He whips the door open with much more force than necessary and stomps into the lobby. There is a massive marble staircase with red carpet down the middle that leads to the upper level of the theater. The inside of the Supremacy is a mix of marble, red carpet, red velvet curtains, and golden accents. It is old but it is a classic opera house style theater. It’s the type of dramatic décor that he knows Snoke loves. He has definitely been here before and it is completely unnerving to him. Too many flashbacks intertwining together making him a jumbled mess; he wants to smash something.

Just when he thinks he is going to lose control he hears a sickening rumble of laughter behind him. He whips around to face Snoke and bows his head slightly to avoid eye contact. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a woman in a tight and way too short black dress, leather knee high boots, with long black hair and dark eyes that are burning into the side of his face. _UGH!_ _Bazine Netal,_ _could this day get any worse?_ He complains to himself but bites his tongue to avoid an outburst. 

“My dear boy, so nice of you to finally grace us with your presence,” Snoke laughs sarcastically. He is not happy he has had to wait. Three people showed up at the same time yet Kylo is the only one he acknowledges. Hux and Phasma position themselves just behind Kylo to stay out of the line of fire. “Perhaps you can explain to me why Bazine and I have had to wait 25 minutes. My time is money Kylo Ren.”

“My apologies sir, I was running late this morning, it won’t happen again,” he mumbles still keeping his eyes trained on the ground. He wishes the ground would just swallow him up so he wouldn’t have to be here anymore. Too much history in this building and now fucking Bazine shows up? He is being punished.

“I expect an extra painting tomorrow to make up for the time you have wasted today. Hux and Phasma will stay at the studio with you to make sure it is finished and to begin the projects we are here to discuss today.” Snoke pauses to see the slump in their shoulders and to wait for anyone to protest; they don’t. “Now, let’s go for a tour shall we? We will discuss our arrangements while we walk.”

Hux and Phasma shoot daggers at Kylo with their eyes while Kylo stomps off after Snoke. Bazine steps in line right next to Kylo and tries to grab the crook of his arm. He stops abruptly and pulls her fingers off of his arm. He holds her hand up in the air out in front of him, looks at it like it is a smelly old banana peel, then he drops it dramatically and storms off. She rushes after him, “Kylo! Please, you know...” She starts to plead but is cut off when he turns around and looks her right in the eyes. His eyes are pure black with fury. “Don’t touch me Bazine. You made your choice; we are done! I know I still have to work with you, but we are done.” There is history between them that he would really rather not confront at the Supremacy with Snoke around.

Bazine works closely with Snoke as his secretary. She is there to take notes on the meeting but she can’t help eyeing Kylo. He is brooding and livid; intimidating as hell, but she can’t help but want him. The group walks around the theater while Snoke comments on things to remodel. They stop on the balcony of the theater looking at the stage and Snoke explains what he expects of the First Order employees. He explains that Phasma will be responsible for social media, planning events and she will act as a liaison between Snoke and the performance groups. Hux will be in charge of advertising, merchandising, and looking for sponsors.

“What is my role?” Kylo ask hesitantly. He really doesn’t even want to know. He wants nothing to do with the Supremacy. Snoke turns to him with a menacing smile. “You will be painting.” Then he pauses dramatically with no other explanation, which leaves Kylo stunned and confused. “So then…why am I here?” He whispers, frustrated to have wasted his day in his own personal hell. 

“NO! POE! PUT ME DOWN!” They hear a loud shriek from the stage followed by hysterical laughing. Kylo looks for the source of the screaming and sees a group of people on the stage. There are three women and a man running after two other people; a man carrying a woman over his shoulder. The woman has wavy brown hair and is kicking her legs laughing loudly. Kylo rolls his eyes and turns away from the stage. _So peppy and obnoxious_ , he thinks as he huffs and crosses his arms.

“You will be painting them.” Snoke explains with a devilish grin and points to the obnoxious group. Kylo’s jaw drops as he turns to look at Snoke. “WHAT?” He growls. “I’m not painting THOSE loud self centered..”

“Yes, You will Kylo. You forget your place.” Snoke cuts him off mid-sentence. His words are full of venom; there will be no arguing now and no complaints. “You will paint them in costume for promotional material. They will be featured on the programs and merchandise. The original paintings will be hung in the lobby and will later be sold in the gallery at First Order Studios.”

He has no words. Well, he does but he knows he cannot say them without poking the beast that is Snoke. He wants to scream and throw things. He wants to break something. He clenches his fists and closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath and pinches his nose looking up at the chandelier while grumbling, “FINE. Can I go?” 

Snoke gives a slight nod and Kylo storms out to the lobby. As Hux and Phasma walk into the lobby they see his phone smashed on the ground. “You owe us drinks Ren,” Hux reminds him. “How are we supposed to text you now?” he teases with an exasperated sigh. 

“Yeah, Yeah. Rain check on the drinks; I’m going to paint tonight so we don’t have to stay longer tomorrow. Let’s get out of this antique hell hole.” His mind is spinning and he is a crumbling mess. He will see his ghosts at the Supremacy and now he is going to have to work closely with them. His hands tremble, he feels like he might be sick and he needs to let out his feelings of despair. He can either destroy something else or put the despair to use. He has to get back to his studio. 

~~~~

Back at the studio he pulls out his palette, his 505 Perylene Black, his 748 Zinc White and his palette knives. He lets out a deep breath to center him and sighs. The scrape of the blade on canvas soothes him. It helps him feel focused and controlled. It’s just what he needs. Routine.

 

_And I’ll feel my world crumbling_

_I’ll feel my life crumbling_

_I’ll feel my soul crumbling away_

_And falling away_

_Falling away with you_

_Falling away with you- Muse_

 


	2. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same day as chapter 1 POV Rey and the resistance

__

_Change in the air_

_And they’ll hide everywhere_

_No one knows who’s in control_

_You’re working so hard_

_And you’re never in charge_

_Your death creates success_

_Rebuild and suppress_

_Ruled by Secrecy- Muse_

Fall is a beautiful time in the city. Running through the park Rey Niima sees red, yellow and orange peppering the trees above the lush green grass. She will never get used to how vibrant the colors are compared to the beige sand of the desert from her childhood. She runs in the morning to catch the glow of the sun across the city as it begins to rise in the sky. The morning air is sharp and cold on her lungs as she pushes through her run. She has to cut it shorter than normal because she has an early rehearsal at La Résistance Dance Studio. The dance company has a big meeting at the Supremacy later to meet with the new owner. Leia didn’t want to miss a full day of rehearsing so they will do a small rehearsal before the meeting. 

Normally a run calms her. The burn in her throat and chest help her clear her thoughts from her everyday worries. The bite of a cold wind on her face helps her wake up and cleanses her as she takes in the beautiful world around her. Normally she would be energized and ready to take on anything thrown at her. Instead she is jittery and nervous. She can’t shake the fear that everything is about to change. People at the dance studio have been on edge since the theater was sold to some guy named Snoke. Rey had never heard of him before that, but no one at the dance studio has anything good to say. She dreads change now that she finally feels like she has a home. She finally has a place with people that care about her and the thought of it changing sends a chill down her spine. The vibration of her phone on her armband shakes her from her thoughts and she reads the text from her roommate. 

 **Rose: Hey! Are you on your way back? Poe and Finn will be here soon to get us.**  

The run didn’t calm her like she hoped and now she needs to head back for a quick shower. She sighs and responds with a short text.

**Rey: Yep! On the way now, see you in 5!**

On the run back to her apartment she thinks about the changes she has experienced in the last year in an attempt to soothe her worries away. She thinks of escaping her last foster home with Finn. Finn Troop saved her in so many ways; in some of the darkest situations of her life he was there for her. He is family to her now. They ran to the city so they could chase their dreams of dancing in a famous ballet. She met Rose Tico, her spunky roommate that loves so easily. Rose welcomed her into her life and introduced her to everyone she knows. She is as close as Rey will ever get to a sister and Rey can’t imagine her life without her now. She decides change can’t be too bad. As she enters her apartment she smiles while she says, “Rose, I’m home!” and for the first time she realizes how true that statement really feels. “I’m just going to quickly shower and change into my dance clothes!”

After a quick shower Rey threw her golden brown hair into a tight bun. She put on mascara, a little bit of blush and some clear lip-gloss. She wore her dance tights and leotard underneath a pair of grey sweat pants and a blue zip up sweatshirt. She packs a spare outfit into her bag for the meeting at the theater. She rushes to the kitchen and quickly makes a protein shake. She blends vanilla protein powder, strawberries, a tablespoon of cream cheese, ice, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It is her signature strawberry cheesecake protein shake. She dumps it into her green shaker bottle and rinses the blender.

“Sunshine, that shake is SO sweet, how can you handle that in the morning?” Finn shakes his head and pretends to shiver in disgust.

“Finn! Leave her alone,” Rose says with a whine and nudges his arm playfully.

“What? You know I have a sweet tooth!” Rey proclaims defiantly with her hands on her hips. She gives Finn a glare that dares him to challenge her further. “Honestly it is the only way I can stand to drink protein shakes and it’s better than eating a donut! Let’s go!” She grabs her bag and her shake and pushes them out the door.

“Mmmm,” Poe let’s out a deep hungry groan. Poe Dameron loves food and also has a sweet tooth; he relates with Rey easily because of their shared food addiction. He freezes in the door way and confronts the group, “That actually sounds delicious, are you sure we don’t have time to stop for donuts?” They all roll their eyes and head to the car but Rey winks at him and says, “Maybe we can gets some at lunch.” They chuckle and climb into the car.

~~ _______________ ~~

The rehearsal proved to be about as calming as her run; maybe worse. Paige and Kaydel had troubles with technique, Finn fell and had to ice his ankle, Rose was distracted and kept missing her entrance, and Poe was in a whole other world. He dropped Rey twice on their lift and they just were not connecting. Leia was less than pleased at this point.

“STOP, Poe! You have to look at Rey like she is the most beautiful person in the entire world,” Leia sighs. “You are supposed to be betrothed to someone else but she captivates you and you fall madly in love with her. I’ve seen you show a sandwich more interest before. I need more passion!” Leia cringes; the early morning rehearsal may not have been her best idea. She looks at the full cast of dancers in the mirror and can see how tired and stressed they all are. There are too many changes happening and she doesn’t know if she can reassure them that everything will be all right.

“I suppose I should be offended!” Rey looks at Poe in mock disgust, “That had better have been one amazing sandwich!” She teases and bursts into laughter when she sees Poe in the floor to ceiling mirror of the studio standing with his mouth wide open in shock. The other dancers join in the laughter. _Something is wrong;_ the thought crosses her mind. She furrows her brow with concern. They have had great chemistry in all of their rehearsals and he never misses an opportunity to flirt.

“I’m sorry, I’m just a little on edge. The tour of the Supremacy in an hour is making it hard to focus,” Poe explains softly with a chuckle as he runs his hands through his curly brown hair. The change in owner at the Supremacy has given everyone at La Résistance anxiety and filled them with doubts about their upcoming ballet. He has heard stories and doesn’t trust Snoke. “Why do we need a tour? We have been performing at the Supremacy for years.”

“Snoke said he wants to make some changes at the theater and he wants to meet each of the dancers. He claimed he has some brilliant marketing idea. We will see what he has up his sleeves soon enough. Let’s run that one more time and then we will head over” Leia rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest. She suspects Snoke will be a nightmare to deal with. He is far too dominant and tries to bend his employees into submission. _Good thing I’m not his employee_ she thinks. She will have to be diplomatic if La Résistance is going to keep performing at the Supremacy. “Ok Rey, start again from the grand jeté leading into an arabesque, and Poe give me passion! 5-6-7-8!” _Hope._ She reminds herself. _We have to have hope_.

_~~_______________~~ _

Poe, Finn, Rose and Rey arrived at the Supremacy first. They were supposed to find a man named Dopheld Mitaka. Leia said he was supposed to be waiting in the lobby, but when they walked in he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“I can’t believe I am actually here,” Rey whispers in awe. “I’ve always dreamed about performing here and now that I’m here it feels so surreal.” She looks around like she has died and gone to heaven.

“You were here in the spring to watch the company perform Swan Lake.” Finn reminds Rey as he watches her look at the paintings on the ceiling and spin around in circles. She is filled with wonder and he wishes her passion would rub off on everyone else in the group. Maybe if they experienced a little of the wonder and joy Rey was experiencing it would calm everyone’s nerves.

“No, it’s not the same. I was here watching other people. This time I am here because I will be performing. I can’t wait to see the stage!” She is practically bouncing; giddy with excitement.

“You will love seeing the theater from the perspective of the stage. There is nothing else like that feeling.” Rose joins in the bouncing and grabs Rey’s hands. They continue jumping up and down squealing until Rose catches the mischievous grin on Poe’s face. “What? Poe why do you look like that?”

“Let’s go see the stage. We are earlier than everyone else, that Mitaka guy isn’t here, and I know how to get there. I have been on the stage loads of times.” He surveys his friend’s reactions. Finn nods emphatically and says, “YES!” Rose smiles and clasps her fingers together yelling out, “I’m in!” Finally Poe looks at Rey; she has her arms behind her back, she rolls her right ankle in and out like she is weighing her options and she is biting her bottom lip. He can tell how conflicted she is.

She looks up at Poe with a frown on her face and sighs, “I’m not sure; I have a bad feeling about this.” She is worried they will get caught and it will look bad to the new owner. She doesn’t want to cause any problems for the studio; she can’t risk losing her chance to perform here.

“Come on Rey, the first time you step on the stage should be with friends and not in a huge group,” Poe pleads, looking straight into her hazel eyes. “We will just have a quick look and come back here to meet the group when they get here. No one has to know…” He starts to say as Paige Tico, and Jessika Pava enter the lobby.

“Ok you two come with us. We are going to show Rey the stage really quick and then we will meet the rest of the company here.” Rose calls to the two girls. Rose runs over and grabs her sister Paige by the arm and drags them toward the group. “Come on, let’s go before anyone else shows up!”

Poe leads them down a long corridor and points out a few rooms that are dressing rooms. Rey struggles to contain her excitement. They go through the door that leads to the stage; they get to the curtains in the wings on stage and she freezes. She is too scared to step out on stage. “Take your first step, sunbeam,” Finn whispers in her ear. She shakes her head and her breath catches in her throat. Before she can say anything Poe picks her up and lifts her over his shoulder and runs onto the stage. “NO! POE! PUT ME DOWN!” She shrieks while kicking her legs and then laughs harder than she has in a long time. Rose, Paige, Finn and Jessika run after them giggling and dancing across the stage.

Poe puts her on the stage and she looks out at the empty theater. Row after row of crimson red seats; they will be filled with people when she performs. She looks around marveling at the fact that her dreams are finally becoming a reality. She considers asking Finn to pinch her to make sure she isn’t dreaming when she hears a man roar, “WHAT?” She looks up at the balcony and sees the source of the commotion. The man that yelled is pointing at the stage; he has long black hair and is the tallest of the people on the balcony. Next to him is a man with red hair, a woman with a short blonde bob, and a very old man. She can’t see them very clearly but they are all very well dressed. She panics and runs off the stage. The others follow shortly as they hear the same man yell out “FINE!”

They make their way back to the lobby slowly. Rey is in shock and hoping they won’t get in trouble for being on the stage. In the hall way just outside the lobby they hear a loud crash. Rey motions for them to stop and peaks into the lobby to see what happened. She sees the tall man with long black hair pacing back and forth. She can see him better now and sees that he is in all black, though he is wearing a nice suit. He has a scar on his face and he is clearly livid. She does not want to go into the lobby just yet. She whispers to her friends to wait just a minute. The red head in a grey suit and the blonde wearing a pencil skirt and silver blouse followed the brooding man to the lobby. Rey watches them leave and when the coast is clear she motions for her friends to move into the lobby.

“What was that? Do any of you know who they are?” Rey questions the dancers. She is visibly shaken and looks like she is ready to bolt at any second.

“I’ve seen them before.” Poe nods and hesitantly begins to explain, “The tall one that was yelling is Kylo Ren. The other two are his friends but I don’t know their names. I’ve seen Kylo at the dance studio talking to Luke and Leia. The others I’ve seen with him around town a few times. I don’t know what they would be doing here at the Supremacy though.” The dancers look at each other with confusion painted all over their faces. They sit quietly waiting as the rest of the dance company walk over to join them, trying not to cause any more trouble.

  ~~________________~~

Rey notices a fidgety man with short brown hair coming to meet the dancers. He approaches in a black suit with a white button up shirt and a solid black tie. “My name is Dopheld Mitaka, Please just call me Mitaka,” he announces nervously. At first Rey notices that he seems incredibly nervous but the longer he is around the group the friendlier he seems.

“Thank you for meeting me here.” Mitaka addresses the group but specifically looks at Leia as he speaks. “Mr. Snoke has asked that I give you a tour of the Supremacy. When we finish with the tour we will meet up with Mr. Snoke so he can meet each of you.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Mitaka,” Leia responds with a smile. She introduces the group and then says, “Shall we proceed?”

Mitaka explains that Mr. Snoke has some updates planned for the Supremacy and points out parts of the lobby that will be receiving new decoration. He explains that most of the updates will be minor and that the main integrity of the original design will remain the same. He leads them into the theater and points out a crew of people taking out some of the crimson seats. “There are quite a few seats with old tears. Mr. Snoke has made it a priority to have the seats repaired. His goal is to restore the building rather than make it more modern.”

“We are so relieved to hear that,” Leia sighs. “Based on the design of First Order Studios I was concerned that he would go for a more modern design if he did any renovating.” Several dancers sigh and seem to relax.

Rey furrows her brow and looks at the group in confusion. She lets out a deep breath that she has been holding and asks, “What is First Order Studios?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” a deep voice rumbles behind her. She turns to see the old bald man that has been standing behind her. He has wrinkly skin with a scar on his face. He is dressed in a suit just like everyone else she has seen but his has pinstripes. _He looks like a mob boss,_ she thinks. He looks at her with a smirk and continues, “It is an art studio that I own. It has a gallery that features work from our main artist, Kylo Ren.”

Rey looks at Leia and notices that her face has fallen and she seems sad. “He will actually be working with each of you to create promotional art for the upcoming ballet. We will feature some of the paintings in the lobby during the performance and others will be including on the programs and merchandising.” There are gasps and excited chatter as the group of dancers grasps what Snoke has just said.

“I’m impressed with some of the changes that are being made. That is a creative marketing strategy that will be beneficial for both the Supremacy and First Order Studios I’m sure.” Leia responds to Snoke in a sincere tone. “I was expecting much worse.”

“One last change we haven’t discussed,” Snoke says with a mischievous grin. “We will be requiring potential performing groups audition before allowing them to perform at the Supremacy. We are hoping to have better quality control than there has been in the past. I would like for your dancers to come tomorrow for a practice run on the stage to see if we will allow La Résistance to perform.”

Rey looks around and sees the shock on each dancers face and she can hear each of their gasps. _I might not be performing here,_ she thinks. She looks to Leia to see her reaction hoping to find some comfort or guidance.

Leia is fuming. _Diplomacy,_ she reminds herself. “Ok, Mr. Snoke. We will come do a test run tomorrow and we look forward to having many performances here in the future. We will see you tomorrow.” She attempts to remain as calm as possible and starts to walk out to the lobby.

“Perfect,” Snoke snarls, “Mitaka will see you out. We wouldn’t want more of your group getting lost.” He looks directly at Rey then looks her up and down with a look of disgust. “Tomorrow meet in the lobby and wait for Mitaka to escort you to the dressing rooms.” Rey shrinks behind Poe as they walk out wishing this were a dream she could wake up from.

“Relax Sunny,” Finn mumbles to Rey as they walk out to the car. She stops and looks at him like he is an alien. “It is going to be fine. There is no way he will keep us from performing. He can’t make money if he doesn’t have a show to sell tickets.”

“Finn,” she pauses dramatically after closing her car door. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” He responds in confusion.

“Sunshine, Sunlight, Sunny? What is with the weird names today?” She bursts out laughing.

“Oh, I was just trying to figure out a nickname that is more fitting for you that isn’t such a little kids nickname.”

“Why? You’ve always called me peanut. Just call me peanut or call me Rey.” She laughs and slaps her hand onto his knee. “I don’t need any more change right now, okay?”

He wraps his arm around her shoulders and gives her a little squeeze, “Ok, peanut!” She smiles and sighs.

Change is terrifying for her and now there is no guarantee that she will be able to perform. _It was probably too good to be true. I shouldn’t have gone on that stage; it just got my hopes up._ She vows not to get her hopes up again. “We have to try our hardest tomorrow; we have to earn our spot on that stage.” She decides she was wrong this morning; change ruins everything. No matter how hard she works she can’t seem to get control.

_Repress and restrain_

_Steal the pressure and the pain_

_Wash the blood off your hands_

_This time she won’t understand_

_Change in the air_

_And they’ll hide everywhere_

_No one knows who’s in control_

_Ruled by Secrecy- Muse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grand Jéte- Leap with a split  
> Arabesque- this is a pose that has the ballerina on pointe with one leg up held straight and behind them


	3. 10 Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo POV. He paints but things don't feel right to him and he visits the Supremacy while the dancers are there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The two paintings in the mood board are both Leonid Afremov paintings. The top one is Bewitched Park in black and white, we will see it in color later. The second is a limited edition Giclee version of Loneliness in Autumn. If you don't know what Giclee is don't worry! It will be explained in another chapter! I may also reference the original version of Loneliness in Autumn but if not you should check it out! The colors are amazing! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

 

_It’s bugging me, grating me_

_And twisting me around_

_Yeah I’m endlessly caving in_

_And turning inside out_

_Hysteria- Muse_

 

Dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt Kylo walks out of his apartment. On his walk to his studio he looks around for inspiration for his paintings. His favorite setting is the park that is between his house and the studio. It has massive trees that are perfect this time of year. The park in the fall is one of his favorites; there aren’t as many people there because it is starting to get cold. It is peaceful and quiet. He stops to briefly take a few pictures; ideas for future paintings. He sees two women running in the distance, one has brown hair and the other has black hair, other than the women the park is empty. He chooses to ignore them and focuses on the scenery. He stops at a park bench and runs his hand across the wood grain. He takes pictures of it from different angles then continues his walk to the studio.

 

He feels calm and ready to paint as he approaches the front door of the studio. The walk through the park gave him several new ideas for paintings and his mind is clear from distraction. He is in a daze entering the studio. It is cool and quiet inside. He wonders if he is the first one there until he enters the gallery.

 

“Hey, how did it go last night?” Phasma asks as he walks through the gallery, “Were you able to get a painting done?”

 

“Yeah it is done and on an easel to dry. Remember the drying time for Perylene black and Zinc White is 5 days. Please don’t try to rush it this time.” He says teasing Phasma. She always tries to rush the drying time.

 

“Yeah, Yeah. I learned my lesson last time. I’m still really sorry about that. I never expected the paint to run with the varnish. I still can’t believe I ruined that painting.” She shakes her head and covers her mouth, still completely mortified. “So it is only black and white again?”

 

“I don’t know why you are surprised by this, Phas. They are always black and white. Plus you shouldn’t varnish them until they are fully cured not just dry; actually, just leave all of that to me,” He chuckles. “You can come see it if you want,” he holds his hand out to show her the way.

 

She walks past huffing, “I know where your studio is Kylo!”

 

In his studio the walls are white concrete with paintings hung all over them and the floor is the same shiny black concrete as the rest of the building. In the left corner of the room there are five easels that look like they are there to display finished paintings, but they are for drying. Kylo is a man of routine, so the one on the far left is the one that should be dry when he walks into his studio. He checks it and if it is dry he pulls it off to the side and moves all the paintings over one spot leaving an empty spot on the far right for the painting he will finish that day. He takes the dry painting and hangs it on the wall to cure. He lets them cure for two weeks and then puts a varnish on to seal it.

 

He points the new painting out to Phasma, although she knew where she would find the new one. She gasps and looks at Kylo, “It’s beautiful! What are you going to call it?” The painting shows a park full of trees. It is night, like most of Kylo’s paintings, so the street lamps are the light source. In these black and white paintings the brightest white is the bulb of the street lamps. The sidewalk next to the park is wet and full of puddles because it is raining. The wet street is the effect he strives for with the palette knives. In the bottom right corner of the painting there is a man walking alone holding an umbrella. It is beautiful, but very lonely.

 

“It is ‘Bewitched Park’. I can’t help but feel like it isn’t finished though. I might have to try that scene again some other time.” He stares at the painting with a lost look on his face. He can’t place what is missing. It ate at him all night and he couldn’t figure out why the name and image he had in mind just isn’t translating to the painting he is staring at.

 

“Oh here you are!” Hux peeks his head in to find Phasma and Kylo. “Remember that Snoke wants you at the Supremacy at 4:30 to take measurements and figure out the details of canvas size for the paintings in the lobby.”

 

Kylo groans and pinches his nose, “Why can’t he just have a photographer take their pictures? It’s a waste of time for me and for the dancers,” He grumbles and throws a palette knife at the wall. “Plus who wants a black and white painting of a ballerina?”

 

“I mean maybe for the black swan?” Phasma offers attempting to be helpful. Truthfully she is hoping to lighten his mood. She doesn’t want to have to hear angry music blasting from the studio all day.

 

“Whatever,” he mumbles and rolls his eyes. “I’m going to get to work since I have to be done early so we can go to the Supremacy.” He walks over to the iPhone dock and turns on ‘Hearshot Kid Disaster’ by Coheed and Cambria just for the scream at 0:25, because he knows it annoys Hux. “This is for you Hux!”

 

Hux rolls his eyes and storms out. “Mission accomplished!” Kylo yells down the hallway. Then he switches to the Linkin Park Meteora album and turns the sound up. Phasma groans and walks down the hall leaving Kylo alone with his yelling music to paint.

 

He preps his palette that same way he always does and begins scraping the paint onto the canvas. He is angry that he is being forced to work with a bunch of annoying dancers. He had to be around them too often growing up and doesn’t want anything to do with dance or the Supremacy now; even painting dancers is too much.

 

The scene he is painting is of the same park that he painted the day before; the one he walks past everyday. It is from a different angle but it features the same trees and a sidewalk lined with street lamps. There is no one in this painting; instead the focus of this painting is the empty park bench on the wet sidewalk. He spends the day using the palette knives to get the texture in the trees and the puddle effect on the sidewalk.

 

He stops and looks at the painting and again he can’t help think there is something missing. He intends to name the painting “Loneliness of Autumn” but looking at the black and white picture you would never know that it is autumn. It needs something.

 

He looks at his watch and realizes he has about an hour left. He remembers that he has to paint the dancers and thinks back to the dancers on the stage. They were so loud and annoying. The only problem is he keeps thinking about the brunettes laugh while she was being carried across the stage. It was a magical sound and he wonders what she looks like up close and what her voice sounds like when she isn’t yelling for her friend to put her down.

 

He smiles thinking about her laugh and opens the drawer that holds his paints. On his palette he puts a drop of 263 French Ultramarine, 722 Windsor Lemon, 111 Cadmium orange, and 94 Cadmium red. He adds yellow to the bench seat, blue to the street lamps, yellow red and orange to the tree trunks, and finally adds a bit of each color to the ground where the grass would be. The color is very subtle but he feels more excited about this painting than he has in a long time.

 

He cleans up his palette knives and palette and walks out to the gallery to meet Hux and Phasma. “Hey Phas, drying time for the one I just finished is ten days.” He starts to walk to the front door but is stopped by Phasma having a mini melt down.

 

“WAIT?!? That’s yellow. 10 days. That’s YELLOW,” she shrieks and runs down the hall. She comes back out into the gallery with her mouth wide open, “You used color! It is amazing!”

 

“Color? That isn’t what your followers expect from you,” Hux chastises him.

 

“Chill, Hux. It is one painting and it isn’t even very much color. It’s not a big deal,” Kylo huffs as he pushes the front door open. The town car is waiting out front to take them to the Supremacy.

~~_______________~~

When they arrive at the theater they each go their separate ways. Phasma was to meet with the dance group to make future arrangements for dress rehearsals, advertising parties and meetings with Kylo to paint the dancers. Hux was to have a meeting with some potential investors. Kylo is tasked with meeting with Mitaka and Bazine to discuss what art is needed for the programs and measuring spots at the Supremacy that will feature paintings. His goal is to not break anything this time but seeing Bazine is definitely pushing it.

 

He decides to get the meeting out of the way first. His plan is to get through the meeting as quickly as possible because he knows the measurements won’t take long. Then he can either take the subway home as soon as he is done or wait outside for Phasma and Hux. Mitaka and Bazine are not in the lobby or the basement; no one is down there. He goes upstairs to check the offices on the top level but still doesn’t find them. He was hoping to avoid actually going into the theater but it seems like that is his best option. He decides to look from the balcony since he is upstairs already and maybe he can look without being seen.

 

As soon as he is on the balcony he wishes that he had checked downstairs first. Bazine is watching the group down below taking notes. He approaches Bazine cautiously. “Bazzzine” He sneers holding the z too long.

 

She turns and smiles, “Kylo! I knew I would be seeing more of you. Did you miss me?” She teases him, “I sure have missed you.”

 

“I really haven’t,” he lashes out with malice. “I just want to get this meeting over with so that I can go home. Have you seen Mitaka?”

 

“Yeah, he is in charge of babysitting them.” She points to the loud group of dancers below. He peeks over the ledge and can see Mitaka standing in the first row of seats. He sees the same group of dancers from before but there is a lot more of them this time. He also sees two older people next to Snoke and Phasma in the same row as Mitaka only a little further down. The two older people look different from the last time he saw them. He expected the woman to have dark brown hair and the man to have brownish blonde hair. Both of them are older than the last time he saw them and they both have a considerable amount of gray hair. “OI! Mitaka!” She yells down and waves. Kylo ducks down trying to avoid being seen by any of the dance group and especially to avoid the two older people. Bazine points down at Kylo to gesture for Mitaka to come up and yells, “get up here!”

 

“What are you doing? Why are you on the ground?” She questions his rather odd behavior.

 

“I just don’t want to be seen. Let’s go out in the hall to meet with Mitaka.” He stands on his feet but stays low in a crouch and tries to sneak along the row to avoid standing tall enough to be seen. She glares at him and then starts laughing.

 

“You look so damn ridiculous,” She rolls her eyes and sighs. “I really have missed you and I hope you can forgive me. I made a huge mistake choosing Grummgar over you. He is a total loser and I have regretted that choice every day since. We were so good together, you and I.” Grummgar is a famous hockey player and a client of First Order Studios. He commissioned several pieces from Kylo and she went with him on a delivery. She flirted the entire time claiming that it would be good for future sales. He shouldn’t have been surprised. She really is a gold digger and definitely a bitch.

 

He stands as he gets to the door leading out to the hall and turns to respond, “Bazine, I really can’t. I can’t go back to what we were. You made a choice and I am sorry that you aren’t happy with the way it turned out, but I can’t go back. There is no more you and I.” He looks over and sees Mitaka approaching carefully. “Mitaka! Great let’s discuss the programs.”

~~_______________~~

 

As soon as they agreed on a format and the number of pictures needed for the program Kylo dismisses them and walks away to get some measurements. He measures a few walls upstairs and makes a note on his notepad then heads downstairs to measure the lobby. There are four spots that will work well for featuring paintings, but they are all different sizes.

 

He bends to measure the bottom portion of the wall and when he stands up he bumps right into someone that is running by. “Watch it!” He growls and then he finally looks up. It is the girl with the brown hair and the magical laugh but she is clearly upset.

 

“S-sorry. I-I’m sorry. I-I wasn’t paying attention and I’m really s-sorry.” She whimpers with tears running down her checks. She puts her head in her hands for a second, let’s out a sob and then wipes her eyes furiously. She looks up and says, “I’m sorry!” one last time and then turns to run away. Her friend, the one that carried her across the stage, runs up behind her and tries to comfort her. He puts his arm over her shoulder and nuzzles into her ear. _Hmmm must be her boyfriend,_ Kylo thinks.

 

“He is a jerk. Just ignore him. It will be ok.” The man tries to reassures her.

 

“Excuse me?” Kylo rumbles.

 

“Not you. This isn’t about you Kylo.” The man responds. Hearing his name Kylo perks up and looks at the man again. He realizes that he knows this man. He knows him from the dance studio, but also from when he was little. Poe. He really should have put it together when she yelled out Poe on the stage the other day, but it didn’t register. His mother practically took him in and considers him to be more of a son than Kylo. Of course Poe would be here at the Supremacy; just another ghost he needs to avoid.

 

He walks away to measure the last spot but can’t help hearing them talk. “Listen, Rey, It’s going to be fine. Let’s go out tonight. We can go to Club Maz and forget all about it. I’ll get the whole group. Please?” She nods her head slowly, still sniffling and they walk out the front door.

 

Kylo furrows his brow and wonders what could have caused her to run out like that. What could have made her so upset that she was crying? He feels bad for yelling at her and then just standing there like an idiot. He finishes his measurement and sends Hux and Phasma a group message.

 

**Kylo: I’m done. I’m probably just going to take the subway home.**

**Phasma: No wait! I am just finishing up and I will head to the lobby. Hux can get a car.**

**Hux: Nope. You owe us drinks and I’m headed down to the lobby now.**

**Kylo: Really? Does it have to be tonight?**

**Hux: Yes.**

**Phasma: Absolutely tonight!**

**Kylo: Fine but I want to go home and change first.**

**Phasma: Obviously.**

 

It only takes a few minutes for them all to meet in the lobby. Kylo wants to go home but he also wants to just get the drinks over with so he agreed to go. They walk out to the town car while Phasma tells them each what they need to wear. They agree to have the driver drop them each off at their apartments and then they will just meet wherever they are going.

 

“So where do we want to go?” Hux asks

 

“Club Maz,” Kylo blurts out. He isn’t even sure how it happened; he definitely didn’t plan to say that. He usually prefers quiet upscale bars that don’t involve loud people in his space. Hux and Phasma both gape at him in complete shock.

 

“Really?” Phasma gasps and starts jumping up and down. “You are full of surprises today! First you use color on a painting and now Club Maz? I don’t know what is going on with you but it is a huge improvement!”

 

“Don’t make me regret this Phas. I’ll meet you guys there at 9.” He jumps out of the car and shakes his head. What is going on with him? Why has he made such uncharacteristic choices today? He really doesn’t want to see a bunch of peppy dancers at the club, so what made him suggest Club Maz? The girl intrigues him, but clearly she has a boyfriend. Why did he say that? _It’s going to be a long night_ he thinks and lets out a loud groan.

 

_It’s holding me, morphing me_

_And forcing me to strive_

_To be endlessly, cold within_

_And dreaming I’m alive_

 

_Cause I want it now_

_I want it now_

 

_Hysteria- Muse_


	4. Supernova

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV Rey to show what made her cry. The dancers perform for Snoke at the Supremacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ballet terminology will be listed at the bottom in a note.
> 
> So sorry for the delay in posting! I had finals last week and then I have been sick! That happens to me every time I have finals; the stress gets to me. 
> 
> The dance pictures in the mood board come from the ballet Giselle. The one on the left is an arabesque and the one on the right is moving from an arabesque in a move called a penché.

 

_Glaciers melting in the dead of night_

_And the superstars sucked into the supermassive_

_Uh, uh-uh, ah-ah you set my soul alight_

_Supermassive Black Hole- Muse_

Frantically Rey puts her black jacket on over her green tank top. She is wearing black capri length leggings and her island blue Brooks Revel running shoes. She puts hear armband with her iPhone on her arm and opens the door. She had been so excited about having the lead in the upcoming ballet and now with the news they may not even perform she is devastated. She feels like her life is a black hole sucking everything in for destruction. Nothing ever works out. She is a ball of nervous energy like a supernova beginning to burst into a billion pieces. She needs to run off some energy.

 

“Wait! Rey! Can I come with you today?” Rose asks as she hops across the entryway on one foot. She has one foot on the thigh of her other leg trying to tie her pink and white shoes while hopping towards the door. She is wearing black and pink leggings and a matching jacket.

 

Rey really would rather run alone to find some clarity and try calming her anxious energy. She wants to say ‘Not today Rose’ but instead she mumbles, “Sure Rose, I would love to have you join me.”

 

“Great! Any place in particular or do you just want to run a few blocks?” Rose pauses to put her hair in a ponytail while waiting for Rey to respond.

 

“The park a few blocks over. We can run laps around the pond.” Rey answers and grabs her by the arm and then locks the door while saying, “hurry, let’s go!”

 

The run to the park is filled with talk about the rehearsal at the Supremacy. Both girls are nervous but Rose claims she is more excited than anxious. Rey stops abruptly on the walking path at the park and gapes at her. “Rose, how can you be so excited for this? I am bloody terrified that Snoke will tell us to fuck off.”

 

“Oh come on Rey! You can’t think about it like that! We are going to be fine. I doubt he will say we can’t perform at all.” Rose attempts to calm her down. “I’m sure he will just give suggestions for things he would like to see changed.”

 

“I don’t know Rose. I hope you are right,” she sighs and then starts running again. Rey decides to take a different path than she normally takes; half way round the pond there is a small trail that loops up by some picnic tables and benches. She notices a man in a black t-shirt and black jeans with long black hair running his hand across the seat of a bench. “Oh my gosh, Rose!” She gasps and ducks behind a tree.

 

Rose stops and looks at Rey cocks her head to the side and asks while chuckling, “What are you doing?”

 

“That’s that guy from the Supremacy.” She hisses; her eyes are open wide and she shakes her head. “The one that was yelling while we were on the stage. You know, the one that threw his phone in the lobby.”

 

“The painter? No way! Why is he petting that bench?” She laughs and puts her hand over her mouth to prevent him from hearing.

 

“I don’t know, but I am not going over there. He is terrifying and the last person I wanted to see today. Let’s go home,” and before Rose could even respond Rey starts running back towards the pond. She doesn’t stop until she gets home. _Great, even this is ruined,_ she thinks while she fights back tears.

 

~~______________~~

 

La Résistance spends the morning at the studio doing some last minute practicing. Practice has gone well despite the dancers anxiety and Leia feels confident in the choreography as well as her dancers ability to perform. Luke, her brother, helps with blocking the company dancers and is beginning to work on set design. They have to make sure the sets won’t be in the way of the choreography. They will need some cottages for the peasant scenes, some forest scenery and some scenery for the graveyard.

 

Rey isn’t quite sure what to think of Luke. He understands the choreography and helps Leia re-block things when they aren’t working the way she thinks they should, but he keeps to himself most of the time. He spends a lot of time building set pieces and seems to prefer to be left alone. He appears to have background in both dance and art design but Rey doesn’t know much more about him. The few times that she has tried to talk to him he has walked away and shut the door; so she just quit trying.

 

“Act one is right where is should be everyone! Well done! Act two still needs some work, but we will get there. I’m very happy with today’s progress,” Leia reassures the group of dancers. “Let’s break for lunch and then we will meet at the Supremacy two pm. Don’t be late and make sure you meet in the lobby!”

 

“I’m walking to the Galaxy Grill for lunch if anyone wants to join,” Poe announces to the group. Rey, Finn, Rose, Paige and Jessika all agree to go. “I just have one rule, no ballet talk and especially nothing about the Supremacy!”

 

Galaxy Grill is a regular lunch spot for the group because it is a short walk from the dance studio. It has a different atmosphere than other restaurants. It’s kind of like a 1950’s diner with a jukebox. There is an area for dancing and the walls and ceiling have stars and planets painted on them. It’s very cheesy but that’s part of the appeal for the group. It’s a good place for them to kick back and relax. They eat and dance to let off some steam and stick to Poe’s rule. It is just what the group needed to shake off their nerves.

 

~~______________~~

 

In the lobby of the Supremacy the dancers meet Mitaka; he made sure to be early so no one could go wandering off on their own. He escorts them to the changing rooms so they can get in their dance gear and stretch. Their official costumes are still being made so this isn’t a full dress rehearsal.

 

Rey waits in the hallway right by the stage pacing back and forth. She finished getting dressed before everyone else and wanted to avoid talking to anyone so she rushed out in the hall. She can’t be around them. All the other dancers feel the same way Rose did this morning; they are nervous but excited. Rey just feels like she is going to puke and can’t talk to them.

 

Finn walks out of the dressing room and sees her pacing. “Hey! Rey, it’s going to be fine.” Finn tries to reassure her. He can tell she is struggling to keep it together. “Take a deep breath and relax. Just dance how you always do and you are going to be great!” He knows her better than anyone else knows her. He knows that she is plagued with feelings of inadequacy; always afraid of rejection. She paints a smile on her face and pretends to be fine, but some wounds run too deep. Some wounds never heal and some just fester under the surface begging her to self-sabotage.

 

“I don’t think I can do this Finn! Snoke doesn’t seem to want us here. I was so close but nothing ever works out.” She sighs completely defeated. She starts to do some stretches because other dancers are starting to come out; it’s almost time to go on stage. She had done some warm up stretches in the dressing room, but she really should be doing more to prevent injury.

 

“You don’t know that Rey! We need to go out there and try our hardest to show him we deserve to be here.” He says encouragingly. He knows that he just needs to get her on the stage. She transforms completely when she is on stage and he knows she just needs encouragement to take the few steps to get there.

 

“Finn! Poe and I haven’t even worked out the pas de deux in act two yet. We aren’t ready for him to critique us. This is a disaster.” She moans as she she rolls up on pointe to double check that her shoes are on properly and ready to go. Then she does a practice arabesque to stretch a little further and to prepare for the many Penche she will do. It is one of the harder moves that she has to do because it takes a lot of strength and control. If she isn’t careful she can fall flat on her face when she rolls down from being on pointe while bending forward.

 

“You do have the peasant pas de deux in the first act down, and the one in the second act is looking good. Leia was happy with it this morning. I don’t think he is going to have us do the entire ballet.” Finn tries to convince her everything will be fine as the other dancers join them in the hall.

 

Mitaka leads them onto the stage and Rey notices that Luke and Leia are out in the first row of seats sitting next to Snoke. Snoke stands to greet the dancers and asks Leia to introduce the group.

 

“Thank you Mr. Snoke for having us today. La Résistance will be performing Giselle. The part of Giselle will be performed by Miss Rey Niima,” Leia waves her arm toward Rey and she does a curtsy to let them know who she is. She continues to introduce the rest of the main characters, pausing between each to allow them to bow or curtsy. “Duke Albrecht of Silesia will be performed by Mr. Poe Dameron, Bathilda will be performed by Miss Jessika Pava, Hilarion will be performed by Mr. Finn Troop, Berthe will be performed by Miss Rose Tico and Queen Myrtha will be performed by Miss Paige Tico.”

 

“Alright let’s begin.” Luke mutters quietly and then shouts to the dancers, “Places everyone!” 

 

~~______________~~

 

As La Résistance performs for Snoke, Rey can’t help keeping a running tally of how the performance is going. The peasant pas de deux with Poe goes absolutely perfectly; the chemistry between them is exactly where it should be for Giselle to fall in love with Duke Albrecht. The rest of the dancers are flawless and Rey feels much more confident that they will be able to perform here for real.

 

Towards the end of the first act Rey has to prepare for several penchées. She has done these perfectly in most rehearsals and she is confident that she won’t have a problem. She crosses the stage and goes up into an arabesque on pointe and as she rolls down to the first penché her leg wobbles and she nearly falls on her face. She catches herself in time but she is devastated to have made this mistake. She continues her solo and is able to do the other penchées without a problem, but her confidence is shaken and she doesn’t have the radiant smile she should have playing Giselle.

 

The final part of her solo is another difficult move that takes her from one side of the stage to the other. It is a hopping move called a ballonné. She goes up on pointe with one leg in the air in front of her slightly bent and as she brings it back down her other foot rolls back down flat. She repeats the move and each time she goes up on pointe she does a small hop forward. She performs the move beautifully until the last one when her ankle rolls wrong on the way down. She quickly recovers but she is sure that Snoke saw it. Her confidence is gone and she is just grateful that she will be able to show her anguish in the rest of act one.

 

Finn is perfect as the jealous Hilarion and Jessika was born to play the rich upper class Bathilda. Rose is a mother hen naturally so her Berthe is flawless and Poe is charming as ever with no mistakes. The rest of act one goes well and they have a short intermission. Rey is hoping that Snoke will not want to see Act two because she has already made two mistakes too many. She rushes off stage shaking her head and biting her bottom lip.

 

“Rey, you were great out there. This is going well, I promise!” Rose whispers and gives her a hug.

 

“Rose I almost fell twice. I’m going to need to ice my ankle. We are done, I doubt he will even want to see the rest of it.” Rey snaps back. “I need to get a drink and to sit down for a few minutes.”

 

While the dancers spend the rest of intermission reassuring Rey and stretching to prepare for act two Luke and Leia talk to Snoke and Phasma in the theater. Phasma arrived just before act one finished.

 

“I’m confused, did the main girl just die?” Mitaka interrupts their discussion. “I honestly have no idea what is happening in this story.”

 

Phasma glares at Mitaka and whispers, “What is wrong with you? You could look this up later instead of interrupting.”

 

“It’s ok,” Leia chuckles and smiles at Mitaka. “I don’t mind explaining the story.”

 

Leia explains that Giselle is a tragic love story. “Duke Albrecht is betrothed to Bathilda who is the daughter of the Duke of Courtland. Duke Albrecht goes to the grape harvest disguised as a villager named ‘Loys’ and falls in love with a peasant girl named Giselle.”

 

“That was the pas de deux at the beginning right, with Rey and Poe?” Mitaka asks, trying to make sure he understands which character is which.

 

“Right!” Leia confirms and then continues explaining, “Hilarion is a gamekeeper that is in love with Giselle and is suspicious of ‘Loys’ but Giselle will not listen to him. Berthe is Giselle’s mom and she is protective of Giselle because she has a weak heart.”

 

“Was Giselle in love with Hilarion before she met the Duke?” Mitaka interrupts again and shrugs when Phasma smacks him on the arm grumbling, “stop interrupting!”

 

“No Giselle was not in love with Hilarion,” Leia answers. She doesn’t mind the questions and is actually impressed that he is showing an interest in the story. “Berthe prefers that Giselle pick Hilarion. But despite Berthe and Hilarion warning her, Giselle chooses ‘Loys’ and falls deeply in love.”

 

“At the end of act one Bathilda shows up at the harvest festivities. Giselle finds out that ‘Loys’ is actually Duke Albrecht and he is engaged to Bathilda.” Luke interrupts and takes over explaining the rest of the first act, “Giselle dies of a broken heart from the betrayal.”

 

“What is the point of the second act if the main character dies?” Mitaka sighs struggling to see that a love story doesn’t always have a happy ending.

 

“You will see in act two in just a few minutes!” Leia responds. She is nervous for act two but feeling pretty confident with how the performance has gone so far.

 

“OI, Mitaka!” They hear yelled across the theater. They all look up and see Bazine on the balcony pointing to something on the floor next to her and she yells, “get up here!”

 

“Excuse me,” He politely bows to Leia and says, “I will have to hear the rest of the story later! Thank you for explaining it to me.” He walks off knowing he has a meeting with Bazine and Kylo to talk about the programs.

 

“We actually won’t be seeing the rest of the ballet today.” Snoke barks out and Leia whips around to look at him. “I have seen enough. Bring the dancers out here and we will discuss the future of your group here at the Supremacy.”

~~______________~~

 

“Hello everyone! I am so proud of you! You all did so well.” Leia announces to the group smiling. “We will not be performing the second act today, so everyone change into your regular clothes and we will go talk to Snoke in the theater.”

 

Rey hangs her head and groans but feels somewhat relieved. She wasn’t sure if she could go back out there and do the second act. He ankle is bothering her from rolling on the ballonné and her confidence is gone.

 

The group joins Luke, Snoke and Phasma in the theater and wait to see what he thought of their performance. Snoke stands to address the full group. “Overall it was a decent performance, but I am not convinced that it will be the quality I am looking for.” There is a collective groan as each of the dancers look around at each other.

 

“I am concerned about the part of Giselle. Ms. Niima clearly has a lot of raw talent however she is obviously lacking in technique.” Snoke looks directly at Rey as he continues to humiliate her, “She almost fell twice and then fell out of character; it is clear that she still needs training. I will not allow La Résistance to perform here unless the part of Giselle is recast.” The dancers gasp and Rey buries her face in her hands while letting out a small sob.

 

“Rey is perfectly capable of performing the part.” Leia jumps to her feet and immediately defends Rey. She has her arms crossed and she moves closer to Snoke as she continues to defend, “We are still early on in practicing and learning choreography. I assure you she will be ready for the actual performance. I can work with her on strengthening her penché and her ballonné.”

 

“I will give you two weeks,” Snoke snaps out in annoyance. “If she hasn’t improved you will either replace her or none of you will perform on my stage. But Ms. Organa, you would be wise to start teaching her replacement the choreography. Phasma will be in touch, you are all dismissed.” He waves his hand in the air motioning for them to leave with a look of disgust on his face.

 

Rey is crumbling. She can’t stop the sobs that are escaping her and she can’t be around anyone anymore so she runs. She runs through a sea of red chairs, up the aisle and out into the lobby trying to escape the pity in the eyes of her friends. She looks back hoping no one followed her and that they will give her some space. When she looks forward to keep running she hits smack into a wall; a wall of black clothing and muscle with shoulder length black hair.

 

“Watch it!” The man snarls and glares at her. It’s the same man that was yelling the first time she was here. The one that threw his phone in anger and the same one she saw petting a park bench on her morning run. He is so tall up close and terrifyingly angry.

 

“S-sorry. I-I’m sorry. I-I wasn’t paying attention and I’m really s-sorry.” She sobs and thinks, _please don’t murder me._ He really is massive and he is the last thing she needs to deal with right now. “I’m sorry!” she blurts out and runs to the door. Poe catches up before she can leave and grabs her by the arm. He wraps his arm over her shoulder and nuzzles into her ear. “He is a jerk. Just ignore him. It will be ok.” He squeezes her tight and then rubs her arm.

 

“Excuse me?” Kylo blurts out angrily. Rey winces, and thinks _oh crap, this just keeps getting worse!_ She is still sobbing and just wants to climb into her bed and never come out.

“Not you. This isn’t about you Kylo.” Poe tries to defuse the anger of the tall brooding man then ignores him and focuses on Rey. “Listen, Rey, It’s going to be fine. Let’s go out tonight. We can go to Club Maz and forget all about it. I’ll get the whole group. Please?” She nods her head slowly, still sniffling between sobs and they walk out the front door.

 

She really doesn’t want to go out. She just wants to be alone, but she knows her friends will never allow her to wallow in self-pity. So she will go with them and drown her sorrows.

 

 _Great_ , she thinks. Her life really is a black hole, supermassive, and she is a supernova beginning to explode.

 

_Glaciers melting in the dead of night_

_And the superstar sucked into the supermassive_

_Uh, uh-uh, ah-ah you set my soul_

_Supermassive Black Hole_

_Supermassive Black Hole_

_Supermassive Black Hole- Muse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pas de deux- dance duet, usually a male and a female
> 
> Arabesque- this is a pose that has the ballerina on pointe with one leg up held straight and behind them (pictured above on the left)
> 
> Penché- this starts as an arabesque, the ballerina rolls back down onto a flat foot and bends forward while lifting the straight leg up higher into the air. (pictured above on the right)
> 
> Ballonné- in Giselle this is used as a hopping step across the stage. The ballerina is on pointe on one foot and the other extends forward with the knee slightly bent then they go back flat bringing the leg back in. The move is repeated with a slight hop forward each time they go up on pointe.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	5. End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and her friends from La Résistance go to the club so she can drown her sorrows. They run into Kylo and his first order friends which wasn’t exactly an accident on his part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the club part one. It will show both points of view. It would have been at least twice the length of the other chapters that I have done and I wanted to post part of it sooner. So here is part one! I hope you enjoy it.

_Declare this an emergency_

_Come on and spread a sense of urgency_

_And pull us through_

_And pull us through_

_And this is the end_

_This is the end_

_Of the world_

_Apocalypse Please- Muse_

**_THUMP, THUMP, THUMP_ **

 

“Rey come on! Open the door!” Rose yells while pounding on Rey’s bedroom door. When they got home from the Supremacy Rey ran to her room and slammed the door. “You have been in there for over an hour. You haven’t even started your hair or makeup. You aren’t going to be ready when Finn and Poe get here.”

 

“Rose I don’t want to talk about it. Just go without me!” Rey moans between sobs. She has been thinking about everything Snoke said since she got home. She plans to tell Leia to recast the part of Giselle so that La Résistance won’t miss out on performing. She thinks she could swallow dropping the lead and being a peasant or being in the graveyard scene. “I think I just need to be alone tonight.”

 

“We aren’t leaving without you! I promise this is going to be fine.” Rose immediately pulls out her phone to text the group.

 

** Rey support group (Finn, Poe, Jess, Paige) **

**Rose: 911 she won’t come out**

**Poe: Why? She said she was coming.**

**Finn: Where is she?**

**Rose: Her room, she hasn’t come out since we got home…**

**Rose: She is crying still**

**Jess: Coming! I’m bringing shoes, Paige bring dresses!**

**Poe: It’s gonna rain**

**Paige: Got it! Makeup too!**

**Finn: Poe and I will be there in 15, will bring Chinese**

“Rey, at least let me in to talk! Please?” Rose begs, hoping that she can calm her down before everyone shows up. She puts her hand flat on the door and pushes her forehead against the doorframe and pleads, “Please let me in Rey!”

Rey slowly cracks the door open. She is wearing a gray hoodie that is three sizes too big, and floral leggings. Her hair is up in a bun from earlier but it is frizzy and messed up from lying on the bed. Her eyes are puffy and red rimmed and she has black tear tracks down her face where her mascara has run. She let’s out a big sob and flops onto her bed. She whimpers, “It’s over Rose, I’m telling Leia to give away my part.”

 

“You can try if that is really what you want, but I don’t think she will give away your part. She stood up for you. She believes in you.” Rose whispers to show support of her decision but to also show she doesn’t really agree with it. “We all believe in you Rey. Please come with us tonight and just have some fun.”

 

“I don’t know.” Rey sniffles and shakes her head.

 

**_THUMP, THUMP, THUMP_ **

 

“Great, who is that?” Rey looks at Rose, rolls her eyes and crosses her arms in front of her chest. She let’s out a huffing sound while Rose runs to the front door.

 

“Where is she? PEANUT! COME OUT!” Finn yells from the entryway. He walks right past Rose and goes straight into her room. “We brought Chinese! Jess and Paige are on their way with clothes and makeup. You are coming with us.”

 

Finn convinces her to go in the kitchen to eat some food and to at least talk about what happened. The agreement was that she would wash her face first then she would come out and talk but that didn’t mean she was going to Club Maz.

 

In the kitchen Rey finds that the girls are there already with their hair and makeup done but they are in sweat pants and button up shirts. They all cheer when she comes in the room and rush to give her hugs with kind words of love and support. _These are good people; they deserve to perform on that stage_ she thinks. “This is amazing, thank you!”

 

While they eat they each give words of encouragement. They tell her she was chosen for the part for a reason and that they still have plenty of time to practice. She agrees to stop thinking about it for the night and go to the club. Finn and Poe work on cleaning up from dinner while the girls take Rey back to her room to get ready.

 

Rose brings a chair to Rey’s room and tells her to sit. She curls Rey’s hair in loose beach waves while Jessika and Paige hold up dress options and shoes for her to pick. Rey settles on a short green spaghetti strap mini dress. It has a faux wrap for the skirt of the dress; it is simple but fits her style. They pair it with black ankle strap heels. Jessika does her makeup opting for black eyeliner in a cat eye, a subtle smoky eye with plum to bring out the green in her hazel eyes, black mascara and a nude lip. Rey looks in the mirror gives a small nod of approval while the other girls quickly get dressed in the clothes they brought.

 

The girls head to the living room to find the guys. Finn and Poe jump off the couch when they get there. “Wow Rey, you look great!” Finn compliments her a little too enthusiastically. “I’m so glad you decided to come with us. This will be great.”

 

“All of you ladies look great!” Poe jumps in quickly. “It’s supposed to rain, so you probably want to wear a coat,” he reminds them. He knows it is going to be cold and doesn’t want them to be cold. Selfishly it’s because one of them always goes without a coat and then they complain that they are cold later. He is a gentleman so he always offers his coat, but he hopes the reminder can prevent that. Rey grabs her red pea coat and her rainbow umbrella.

 

“Alright let’s go! Subway or cab?” Finn asks. “We thought one of those options would be best so we don’t have to have a designated driver.”

 

“Subway!” Rey responds and looks around as the other girls groan. “What? I like the walk to the subway and it’s fun to people watch.” She frowns because she hates feeling like she needs to defend her choice.

 

“Heels and Rain? I don’t want to be a wet rat when I walk into the club.” Jess grumbles and then pauses when she sees Finn and Poe glaring at her. Quickly she amends, “But tonight is about you, so subway it is.”

~~______________~~

Kylo lets out a big sigh as he opens the door of the car. “Club Maz,” he tells the Uber driver and he puts his headphones in. He doesn’t want any conversation. He still can’t believe that he suggested going to the club. They could have gone to their usual bar had a single drink and then gone home. Instead he committed to the entire night at a loud nightclub and he is pretty sure that he will run into the annoying dancers. It wouldn’t be so bad if the girl was single, maybe he could buy her a drink or see if she wanted to dance. She isn’t single though so he doesn’t even have that to look forward to. _I’ll just sneak out after a few drinks_ he decides.

 

**Phasma: I’m here with Hux where are you?**

**Kylo: In the car be there in 5**

**Phasma: Did you wear what I told you to?**

He looks down at his outfit and shakes his head. He isn’t sure why he lets Phasma boss him around sometimes, but he wore exactly what she told him to. Normally he would have worn black jeans, a black shirt and a blazer; not this time though. Instead he wore black jeans, a white V-neck and his black leather jacket. He might have even picked out this outfit if it was a black shirt, but instead she had insisted he wear the one white shirt he owns.

 

**Kylo: Yes…I hate the white**

**Phasma: I bet you look great**

**Kylo: Whatever. I’m here, where are you guys?**

**Phasma: Back corner on the couches**

The best way to describe Club Maz is loud. The ceiling has thousands of glass raindrops hanging down that reflect colors in purple, pink, red, and blue. There is a wall lined with long white modern style couches. The lights from the dance floor paint the couches different colors so they don’t appear white. There are small white square tables evenly spaced along the couches and each table has a bright green centerpiece like a bonsai or some sort of shrub and candles in clear vases. There is a wall of greenery with live plants on the other side of the dance floor across the room that adds a pop of color. To Kylo Club Maz is very loud, both in design and in sound; he hates it.

 

“So nice of you to finally join us Ren.” Hux sneers; he can’t stand when people are late even if it is only by three minutes. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show up.”

 

“Oh come on Hux it probably took him three minutes to find us in here” Phasma tries to defend him. “Please don’t ruin the mood.”

 

“Too late! Remind me why I agreed to come here? We could switch to somewhere a little less…” Kylo pauses trying to figure out how to sum up his feelings about Club Maz, “here” he finishes lamely.

 

“No we are staying! First round is on you. How about you and I go get drinks and Hux can save our spot.” Phasma talks him down and grabs his elbow to lead him to the bar.

 

When they get to the bar Kylo notices a group of people at the coat check. There are two guys and four women. He thinks it might be the dancers but he can’t quite tell. While he attempts to get a good look Phasma asks the bartender for their usual drinks and a round of shots. They collect their drinks and head back to their corner all the while Kylo sneaks looks over his shoulder trying to see if it is them or not but they are no longer at the coat check. Phasma stops abruptly when a man and two women run in front of her causing Kylo to bump into her.

 

“Pay attention Kylo! You almost spilled those all over me!” She chastises him, “What are you looking at anyway?”

 

“What? Nothing, I just thought I saw someone I knew.” He answers not wanting to admit that it might be the dancers. _You don’t care about seeing them; they are annoying,_ he reminds himself. “FUCK! Phasma why is SHE here?” He yells out and points at their table. Next to Hux sits Bazine and Mitaka.

 

“Shit! Sorry Kylo, I invited Mitaka. I didn’t know he would invite Bazine,” she sighs, shakes her head and shrugs. “Just pretend like she isn’t here. Who knows, maybe you will meet someone while you avoid her.” Then she elbows him and winks.

 

He lets out a groan and walks past her to their table in the corner. “Hey Mitaka, nice of you to join us.” He attempts to greet Mitaka with a friendly tone and chooses to flat out ignore Bazine. He sits on the other side of the table and insists that Phasma sit next to him as a buffer.

 

“Hey Kylo!” She says quietly hoping to get him to acknowledge her without him flipping out. “Thanks for inviting us to come tonight. That was very…”

 

“I didn’t.” He cuts her off and refuses to look at her. “I had nothing to do with this.” He mumbles and then looks around the club.

 

He sees the group he was watching before in the opposite corner of the long wall of couches. He notices a girl with wavy brown hair in a short green dress. She is sitting in the middle of the group with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. The man next to her is rubbing her back and the others are attempting to calm her down. He can’t see her face but he is pretty sure it is the girl; the one with the magical laugh. He decides it has to be her because that man looks like Poe. He thinks her name is Rey but he isn’t sure he heard Poe right at the Supremacy. _He has to be her boyfriend; rubbing her back like that_ , he moans internally and frowns wondering why he did this to himself.

~~______________~~

The walk to the subway from her apartment wasn’t as wet as everyone thought it would be but Rey was glad that they all had umbrellas and coats. _Thank God Poe insisted everyone wear coats_ she giggles to herself. The subway was packed with all kinds of people. Some had been headed home for the day; the tell tale signs of messy hair and disheveled clothes from a long day of stress were a dead give away. Others were headed out for a night on the town, all dressed up and buzzing with excitement. The subway ride was honestly her favorite part of the night because people do the weirdest things on the subway. Her favorite from this trip was the guy holding a book upside down clearly trying to hide what he was really looking at. She spent the ten-minute ride imagining what he was hiding, and now that they are at the club she thinks it might provide a distraction if she needs one.

 

As they walk up to Club Maz, Rey lets out a sigh and decides to try to forget all about Snoke and the Supremacy. Inside they stop at the coat check so they don’t have to worry about their coats or umbrellas. “Ladies I’ll put your tickets in my pocket if you want” Finn offers knowing none of them have pockets. It’s sweet of him to offer, but they all know he would have been their collective pocket anyway, he always is.

 

Rey takes a deep breath and looks around. It’s been a while since they have been to Club Maz but it is one of her favorite places to go on the weekend. The colors are so vibrant and inviting. She thinks there isn’t anywhere else with this much color. The best part for Rey is the live plants that are spread all through out Club Maz. The walls above the couches have decorative green circles on them but on closer inspection the circles are a vertical garden of beautiful succulents. It is widely known as a green club, opting for energy efficient light bulbs, organic drinks, products that can be recycled and things made from recycled material like the employee uniforms. The greenery through out the club is a green way to recycle the stale air. She loves the concept of the place because it is so full of life and demonstrates interesting ways of renewing resources. It’s exactly the type of energy that she needs after the day she has had.

 

They find two empty tables in the corner and squish onto the white couches. Where they are sitting the light reflecting on the couch is a bright blue hue. “Hey Finn and Paige, you guys come with me and we will get the first round of drinks,” Jess suggests and pulls them toward the bar. Poe, Rey and Rose stay behind to save seats. They talk quietly and Rey points out the circles of plants and the way the blue makes the glass drops look like it is raining above them.

 

Finn, Paige and Jess run past a tall woman with blonde hair and barely miss running into her. “Sorry!” Finn yells out without looking back. “Crap I hope I didn’t make her spill her drinks!” He says to the girls when they get to the bar. “I really should have stopped to make sure everything was ok.”

 

Back at the table Poe and Rey argue playfully about the rain effect. “I can’t decide if it is depressing for the blue to feel like rain. I think the red would have felt a lot harsher though. I really don’t know which is better,” Poe half yells over the music.

 

“The blue is soothing and I love the rain! I think the red would have…”Rey starts to say when she hears some one shout “FUCK!” She looks around and sees the guy from the Supremacy, the angry guy, pointing at the corner opposite them. “…Stressed me out,” she finishes. “Holy shit they are here. The First Order people from the Supremacy.” She drops her elbows to her knees and plops her face into her hands. “Why me?” She groans.

 

“It’s ok Rey. Just ignore that they are here” Poe tries to comfort her and he rubs slow circles on her back.

 

“What happened? What’s wrong with Rey?” Rose asks as they get back with the first round of drinks. They all crowd around her worried.

 

Poe responds by nodding slightly toward the corner. They see the employees from the Supremacy sitting in the corner opposite them bathed in red light from the dance floor. “Yep the red is much creepier,” He jokes and Rey lets out a small laugh that turns into a sob. “Let’s have fun tonight and let loose. Forget about them,” he says giving her a small squeeze and then continues to rub her back.

 

She can’t believe her luck. She should have stayed home. They convinced her to get out and try to forget but no matter how hard she tries she can’t get away from Snoke and his minions. _They really must be the mob_ she thinks between sobs. She was hoping to have fun and pull herself out of her downward spiral but instead she feels like the walls are squeezing in on her. The red hue from the corner sucking the life out of the room and it feels like the end of her world.

~~______________~~

“Oh that poor girl,” Phasma sighs and shakes her head looking at her drink.

 

Kylo snaps his head back to Phasma and barks, “What girl?”

 

_Proclaim eternal victory_

_Come on and change the course of history_

_And pull us through_

_And pull us through_

_And this is the end_

_This is the end_

_Of the world_

_Apocalypse Please- Muse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Next up the club part 2 and this one will have more interaction I promise! I know this one was kind of a filler chapter but it sets up the interaction for part 2!


	6. A Contradiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of Club Maz. La Résistance play a game and they interact with Kylo and his friends from the First order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took me longer than I planned. I am sick again and I don't do well when I have a high fever!
> 
> Last time ended with this:
> 
> “Oh that poor girl,” Phasma sighs and shakes her head looking at her drink.
> 
> Kylo snaps his head back to Phasma and barks, “What girl?”

 

_Bury it_

_I won’t let you bury it_

_I won’t let you smother it_

_I won’t let you murder it_

_Our time is running out_

_Our time is running out_

_You can’t push it underground_

_You can’t stop it screaming out_

_How did it come to this_

_Yeah you will suck the life out of me_

_Time is Running Out- Muse_

Kylo stares at Phasma waiting for her to respond; she just shrugs and starts to change the subject. “Phasma, What girl?” he urges her.

 

“The one over there in the corner with her head in her hands.” She nods towards the dancers to indicate which corner. “She has had a rough day but it doesn’t matter.” She tries to brush it off so they won’t focus on it.

 

“Wait Mitaka, aren’t those the obnoxious dancers from the Supremacy? You’ve been babysitting them this week right,” Hux questions raising his eyebrow and then wiggling his nose in disgust.

 

Mitaka looks over at the group craning his neck to see over the crowd. “Hmmm, yep that’s them. Wait, why is Rey so upset? Did something happen after I went up to meet Bazine and Kylo?” He looks at Phasma with a look that Kylo thinks is oddly concerning. _Rey. So that is her name. Why does Mitaka care?_ He frowns at the thought.

“Um, you could say that. Let’s go for round two shall we?” Phasma responds trying to change the subject. This is such a depressing topic and she doesn’t want any of them focusing on work.

 

“Kylo, come dance with me,” Bazine whines and steps in front of Kylo blocking off his view of the dancers. She leans over the table and tries to rub his arm.

 

“Not a chance Bazine and don’t fucking touch me,” he growls while ripping his arm away. He glares at her and then turns to Phasma and asks, “What happened with the girl?”

 

“Snoke told La Résistance they couldn’t perform unless Leia picks a new lead. He said he would give Rey two more weeks to polish her performance and then decide. He wants her gone though; I don’t really think he is going to give her a chance.” Phasma explains while watching the dancers. “She couldn’t handle it and ran out crying.”

 

It hits Kylo like a punch to the stomach. He realizes why she was running when she ran into him. She had been crying because of what Snoke said to her and he was a dick about her running into him. He closes his eyes and lets out a small sigh while thinking _I’m a fucking asshole_! _No wonder Poe was annoyed!_

 

“They would be stupid to keep her. She isn’t even that pretty. Shouldn’t the lead at least be pretty?” Bazine sneers and Hux chokes on his drink. Spluttering and coughing he laughs and says, “She is rather plain looking, isn’t she?”

 

“Shut up Hux! No one asked you. Besides her dancing matters more than her looks.” Kylo glares at Hux and Bazine with a murderous stare. Then he turns to look at Rey and sees her standing and shouting something. “It’s your turn to get drinks,” Kylo states flatly.

 

“I think she is pretty,” Mitaka cuts in blushing and looking at the table. “I mean, she is really nice and from what I saw she is an excellent dancer.”

 

Kylo looks at him and frowns, he really doesn’t like that Mitaka has spent time around her. “Why don’t you go with Hux for drinks,” he grumbles.

~~______________~~

Her initial response to seeing those jerks is to curl up, sob for a bit and then die. Rey feels like she is in shock but then she feels a jolt in her stomach that sends an electric current through her body and she sits up shivering. She is buzzing with irritation and disbelief. “This is a joke right? Did one of you invite them trying to be funny?” She looks around the group, shoots out of her seat and yells, “Because this isn’t fucking funny!”

 

“Rey, come on you know we wouldn’t do that to you. This is just a crazy coincidence.” Finn takes her hand and tries to calm her down. “Shots. You need a few shots and then you need to get out there and dance!”

 

“I don’t know if I want to dance tonight. I don’t even want to think about dancing honestly.” Rey pouts and slumps back down in her seat.

 

“I know what we are going to do!” Paige jumps up suddenly extremely excited, “We are going to play Tiger’s Coming. Every time one of those dicks from the Supremacy walks by we yell out ‘Tiger’s coming’ dive under the table, take a shot and then come back up!”

 

“Really Paige? We are all in dresses,” Rey tries to argue. She really is not in the mood for drinking games.

 

“Yes and from now on anytime you bring up the situation with the Supremacy you have to chug a beer.” Paige smirks at her while Rey sits with her mouth gaping open in shock.

 

Rey starts to argue, “I really don’t want to get plastered; I don’t think this is…”

“Exactly the point of the chugging!” Paige interrupts not caring at all about her argument. “Complain once or twice and then you won’t complain again! I promise”

 

“Oh! TIGERS COMIN,” Rose yells! “Red head and that Mitaka guy headed back from the bar.” They all dive under the table, do a shot, and laugh hysterically while the two men walk by. Then after the men are past the table Rose yells, “TIGERS GONE!” They pop up and burst out laughing again.

 

Rey looks over and sees the two men looking back at them confused and she laughs. “Oh my god…that was hilarious,” she wheezes between giggles. “Did you… D-did you see the l-look on their f-faces?” She can barely get a sentence out because she is laughing so hard.

 

“Come on Rose, let’s go get more shots so we are ready for the next tiger!” Poe chuckles and leads her to the bar.

~~______________~~

“Did you see that? What the hell was that?” Hux sneers as he walks up to the table.

 

“We saw it, what did they yell?” Kylo asks genuinely curious. He looks over at the group of dancers and notices that they seem to be having fun, loud fun, but still fun. Rey seems to have cheered up a bit and he can see her smiling and laughing. He wishes he were closer so he could hear the sweet sound of her laughter.

 

“I don’t know. But they are so loud it is rude,” Hux spits out in disgust. “Look at them yelling and jumping around.” They sit in an awkward silence each slowly drinking their beers while observing the dancers.

 

“Phasma come with me to the ladies room,” Bazine says and drags Phasma away before she has the chance to argue. Kylo watches as they head past the dancers and hears one of the guys yell, “TIGERS COMIN” and he sees them all dive under the table laughing. He frowns and wonders if it is a coincidence that it happened both times his coworkers walked by. “TIGERS GONE” the man yells when Phasma and Bazine have passed them.

 

“UGH they are so obnoxious” Hux whines and rolls his eyes.

 

“Looks like they are having fun to me,” Mitaka whispers with a small smile. “More fun than we are having anyway.” Kylo looks back and forth between the dancers and Mitaka. He is staring with a wistful look and it makes Kylo feel strangely uncomfortable. It feels like a burning wave of energy that makes his cheeks feel hot and like his brain is about to combust. It feels like jealousy and he knows he has no real reason to be jealous.

 

Hux groans and tells Mitaka he is too soft. They sit in silence staring at the dancers. Hux is glaring with his lip curled up. Mitaka looks longingly like he is fighting to stay in his chair. Kylo tries to play it cool by just peering up from his glass occasionally but every time he does his eyes go straight to Rey. They don’t notice that Bazine and Phasma decide to go out on the dance floor instead of moving past the dancers to get back to their table.

Twenty minutes later Hux looks around and notices the girls still haven’t come back. “Where do you think they got off to?” He asks breaking the silence.

 

“Huh? Who?” Kylo responds genuinely confused about who Hux is referring to. He looks at the table of dancers trying to see if one of them is missing.

 

“Who? Phasma and Bazine! What other people would I be talking about?” Hux bites out as if he is completely scandalized. He stands up peering around the club trying to find them.

 

“I think they are over there dancing,” Mitaka quietly states and points to the corner of the dance floor. Phasma and Bazine are casually dancing with two guys and when he sees them Hux looks like he is about to combust.

 

“You’d think they would at least tell us! Why did she even want us to come with them?” Hux rambles while his face turns red. He slumps back into his seat, grabs his beer and chugs what is left.

 

“Are you jealous that Phasma is dancing with someone else?” Kylo asks and laughs in complete surprise. He isn’t sure why he never noticed it before but thinking about it now he can see that Hux always lingers around her at First Order. He spends a lot of his time in the gallery talking to her.

 

“No!” He denies too quickly, “I just… What if they had gone missing? We didn’t even know where they were.” He tries to steer the conversation away from any possible feelings he might have.

 

“Uh-huh sure!” Kylo chuckles with a smile and shakes his head.

 

“I’m going to go over and talk to them.” Mitaka says out of the blue. He scoots his chair out and quickly walks over to the dancers corner headed straight for Rey. Kylo shoots daggers at the back of his head completely shocked that Mitaka would go over there.

 

“TIGERS COMIN!” Poe yells out and all of the dancers dive under their tables again. They are laughing so hard and Mitaka just stands there in shock. He can’t decide if he should turn around and walk away or wait for them to come back up.

 

“It’s us. We are the tigers in their little game.” Kylo mumbles to Hux. He let’s out a small laugh and then furrows his brows. He can’t decide what to think of this development. Part of him finds it funny, but the other is insulted that they would be part of these annoying dancers antics.

~~______________~~

Under the table the dancers drink their shots and burst out laughing. Rey saw Mitaka walking past their table before Poe yelled but now she is mortified to realize that he wasn’t walking past their table, he was walking to their table. “Oh my god! Rose he is just standing there,” she whispers and they both start to laugh. “What do we do?” She wheezes out with tears in her eyes. She hasn’t laughed this hard in a long time and she is finally glad that she came to the club.

 

They are all sitting there waiting for him to leave so Poe can call tigers gone, but instead of leaving he bends down under the table and looks right at Rey. “Hey Rey! How’s it going?” he asks with a small smirk. She turns bright red and doesn’t know what to say. She knows she can’t just ignore him and stay under the table, so she stands up and mumbles, “Oh hi! We’re just playing a game.”

 

“Oh!” he whispers awkwardly. “Hey you were great today at the Supremacy, I didn’t get to see you before you left.”

 

“Um…thanks,” She mumbles wondering why he is here talking to her. “Snoke and your buddies over there didn’t seem to think so.” She begins to rant and looks over at the table. As soon as she looks her eyes meet the brooding artists eyes and she realizes that he is staring right at her. She jumps and looks away like his gaze has burned her. “I don’t understand how you can work for a man like that.”

 

“Ok that’s enough! Time to chug!” Paige yells as she jumps up. The rest of her friends climb up from under the table and start chanting along with Paige. “CHUG, CHUG, CHUG!”

 

“Fine!” She yells and rolls her eyes. She grabs her glass and chugs what is left of her beer. “Happy?” She sneers at her friends as they all start to cheer! She tries to stay mad at them but can’t help the smile and laugh that come as they are cheering her on.

 

“Come on! Let’s all go dance! Mitaka you can join us, but our rule for tonight is you can’t talk about the Supremacy!” Poe yells out as he pushes the group to the dance floor. “Rey, come on!”

He whispers in her ear as he guides her behind everyone.

 

“Poe, I said I didn’t want to think about dance tonight.” She whines and looks at him with a big pouty lip.

 

“So don’t think.” He smiles and whispers, “Just have fun!”

 

Reluctantly she allows Poe to push her to the dance floor and she stands there for a minute watching her friends dance around like idiots. She starts laughing again and it isn’t long before she is pulled into the middle of the group dancing and jumping around. There is little to no technique involved in dancing at the club, which is perfect because it helps her take her mind off of her situation. She hasn’t danced like this in a long time; perfectly care free with no thought to her movement. She smiles and relaxes grateful for her friends. _This is just what I needed_ she chuckles to herself.

~~______________~~

“Looks like we lost Mitaka to the dance floor as well.” Hux mentions to Kylo and points to the group of dancers. Surprisingly Kylo doesn’t hear any malice or anger in his tone, instead he seems almost eager. If Kylo didn’t know any better he would think Hux was trying to hint that they should go dance too. He sees Mitaka dancing with Rey and he groans.

 

“You want to join them?” He asks sarcastically and he is surprised when Hux perks up and says “I mean sure if you are going out there.” Kylo gapes at him. _What is happening tonight_ Kylo can’t help but wonder. Every interaction he has had today has been completely out of character except perhaps with Bazine. She is her usually bitchy self.

 

“We could go find Phasma.” Hux replies hopefully, already scanning the dance floor.

 

“Ok, I’m actually going to go to the restroom. You go find Phasma and I will come find you when I’m done.” He mumbles. He doesn’t really want to dance and he definitely doesn’t want to dance with Bazine. He knows if he goes and finds Phasma he will also find Bazine.

 

He walks through the dance floor toward the restrooms and thinks _this is actually the perfect opportunity to sneak out._ He isn’t paying attention to the people around him, he is just trying to get through the crowd then suddenly he runs right into someone. He looks down and smiles as he realizes it’s her. _Rey._

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” She yells as she looks up and sees him. Her eyes go wide and she starts to back away.

 

“No! It’s ok!” He blurts out quickly and sticks his arm out grabbing her elbow to stop her from running. “I actually wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. I am so sorry that I yelled at you.” He looks down at her arm and quickly lets go hoping he didn’t freak her out even more.

 

“It’s alright. I really need to pay closer attention. That’s twice today I have run into you.” She smiles not sure what to think of this interaction. He has been so angry every time she has seen him, but this time he is actually being pleasant. She notices he is wearing jeans and a white V-neck and realizes it’s the first time she has seen him in something other than black. _Damn, he looks good_ her brain traitorously supplies.

 

“I should probably introduce myself so you don’t think I’m just some big crazy angry guy, I’m Kylo” He yells hoping she can hear him over the music. He sticks his hand out for a handshake; that’s the proper thing to do right? _Fuck that was stupid_ he chastises himself.

 

She leans in closer so he can hear her without yelling to the whole club and shakes his hand, “I’m Rey,” she says cautiously. Her first instinct is to yell at him and run away because he works for the enemy so that makes him her enemy too, right? He is obviously trying to smooth things over though so she decides to stay quiet.

 

“I haven’t seen you dance, but I heard about what Snoke said and I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the record. He can be a little…”

 

“Douchey?” She cuts him off. “Terrifying? A bit of a giant Arsehole?” She shouts with a big huff. She is beginning to fume and he regrets bringing it up. He didn’t mean to set her off.

 

“Harsh. I was going to say harsh.” He finally finishes with a smile. “But yeah I guess those work too.” He let’s out a small laugh and he runs his hands through his hair.

 

He looks around and notices Mitaka is dancing and talking with two girls that look like they are sisters and the other guy he still doesn’t know his name. Poe and the other girl are off talking to the DJ. “Hey can you tell me each of your friends names since I’m going to be working with each of you?”

 

“Um…sure. I don’t know if you will actually be working with us but the guy over by your friend Mitaka is Finn. Finn is dancing with Rose and Mitaka is with her sister Paige. Poe is the guy headed back this way and he is with Jessika.” She points toward Poe who looks at her with a smirk on his face and then he frowns when he sees Kylo.

 

“Alright listen up!” There is a pause in the music and the DJ yells out, “We had a special request to slow it down for a special lady known as Peanut. This one is for you Peanut, I hope you are having a good night here at Club Maz.” Rey hangs her head and groans.

 

“What did you do Poe?” She moans as she glares at him but he winks at her. The DJ plays “Despacito” and she starts laughing. She doesn’t know the words but loves to yell about burritos, and tacos while attempting to sing it. Normally it drives Poe crazy because he knows the real words and has tried to teach it to her many times but she prefers her lyrics.

 

Kylo sees the interaction with Rey and Poe and debates walking away, but Rey turns back to him and whispers in his ear, “I love this song!” His brain short circuits and he shivers slightly from the feeling of her breath against his neck.

 

He looks around to see Poe dancing with Paige, Mitaka dancing with Jessika, and Finn dancing with Rose. He turns his head back to Rey and holds out his hand, “care to dance?”

 

She is completely shocked and can’t seem to find words to respond so she just nods her head and takes his hand. She expects the standard slow dance, holding one of his hands in hers with her other hand on his shoulder while he puts his hand on her hip, even though this song isn’t really that slow. But he surprises her; he pulls her into a ballroom hold with his right hand just under her left arm resting gently on her shoulder blade and he begins to dance. He steps forward, replace, back; back, replace, forward.

 

“Salsa?” she gasps and gapes at him. She can’t believe he knows how to salsa dance. It is stiff at first mostly because she wasn’t expecting salsa, not in a million years would she have guessed this man knew how to dance.

 

“I think you will find I’m full of surprises.” He smirks and laughs at her shocked expression.

 

“Ok but you are going to have to put up with my singing. I can’t listen to this song without singing.” She giggles and then belts out her made up lyrics while he leads her around the dance floor with an occasional spin every so often. Her friends notice them dancing and look at them with their mouths wide open in shock and awe. Rey shouts out “What? Join us!” and she laughs.

 

 _That magical laugh_ Kylo thinks and he is pretty sure this is what heaven is. _This has to be a dream._ He watches her singing her heart out and giggling between her made up lyrics while he dances with her in his arms and he thinks she has to be the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.

 

The other couples join them in salsa dancing and they aren’t too bad at it except for Mitaka and Jessika. She tries to teach him the steps but he is kind of a lost cause. Jessika has fun laughing at him though and he turns bright red.

 

As the music comes to an end Kylo pushes her away from his body and pulls her back in a quick spin but she feels like they are moving in slow motion. Their eyes meet briefly as he leans over her holding her in a dip. She tries to catch her breath and he snaps her back up towards his body meeting her eyes again with a burning intensity that sends a shiver down her back. She feels lost in his eyes and thinks she may have completely misread this man. They are so close and there is no way an enemy could make her feel like this.

 

“Wow you guys looked great! I didn’t know you knew how to dance.” Mitaka elbows Kylo and raises his eyebrows breaking the spell they are both under.

 

“Um yeah I know some,” Kylo responds awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck.

 

“I really need to sit for a few minutes, do you guys want to go get a drink?” Rey yells to the group. They agree and she turns to Kylo and Mitaka and asks, “Do you two want to join us?” They nod and follow the dancers back to their tables.

 

“Ok but you aren’t going to dive under the table when we get there are you?” Mitaka grumbles and then laughs.

 

“No sadly you two aren’t tigers anymore.” Paige sighs and then shrugs. “But you can join us for the other tigers,” she chuckles and raises her eyebrows at Mitaka. 

~~____________~~

Rey sits down first and Kylo sits next to her with his arm spread across the back of the couch. He leans in close to her but doesn’t touch her. He is so close to her that she can smell his cologne. It is a woody scent with a hint of citrus; it smells fresh and tangy and it is intoxicating. She’s not sure what to think of this man. He is like a walking contradiction. Every encounter prior he was angry and brooding; but now he is charming and mysterious. He is a like a puzzle that she can’t help but want to figure out.

 

She turns to him and smiles and then asks, “So where did you learn to dance like that?”

 

He hesitates as if there is a war raging inside of him and he can’t decide which side to pick. Finally he shakes his head apparently deciding on the safest answer. “A friend of my mother teaches ballroom dance. My mom made me take lessons as a kid.”

 

She leans in closer to him so she can whisper in his ear, “Well you are very good at it. I was pleasantly surprised.”

 

“Maybe sometime I can show you some of the other dances I learned,” he whispers back and gives her a half smile. Rey melts, fights back a small whimper and nods ever so slightly.

 

“Oh GUYS! TIGERS COMIN” Rey groans and looks to her group of friends with a glare to find that it was Mitaka that yelled it. She shrugs her shoulders and giggles diving under the table with the rest of the group. Kylo stays in his seat pretending not to notice the absence of the group but then he sees Bazine approaching and wishes he had jumped under the table with them.

 

“Hey baby!” She says as she slides into Kylos lap and runs her hand through his hair. “I’ve missed you tonight, how about you show me some of those dance moves I saw a few minutes ago?” He gapes at her in horror too stunned to say anything.

 

Rey furrows her brow and slowly gets up from the under the table. She can’t believe her eyes. She wonders how he could have been over here spending time with her if he has a girlfriend. She turns to Finn and holds out her hand. “Ticket Finn,” she grumbles.

 

Kylo pushes Bazine off his lap onto the seat beside him, “Get off me and don’t touch me” he growls at her. “Rey wait!”

 

Bazine looks back and forth between Rey and Kylo and huffs, “Snoke is right you know? You have talent but your technique is terrible. You are bringing everyone else down.”

 

Rey’s face goes red with rage and she yells, “FINN TICKET NOW!” He fumbles around in his pocket and gives her the ticket to get her coat and she storms off to coat check.

 

“Why did you do that?” Kylo yells at Bazine, “How many fucking times do I have to tell you that there is nothing between us? We are over. Leave me alone and leave Rey alone!” He is shaking and wants to destroy something. Every bit of progress he made with Rey tonight was undone by Bazine in less than two minutes. He shakes his head and then runs off to try to stop Rey.

~~______________~~

“I need to get my coat and umbrella as quickly as possible.” She explains and hands the guy her ticket. “It’s a red coat and a rainbow umbrella if that makes it faster.” She just wants to get out of this club. It felt like it had been a good idea but now it’s just horrible. Maybe she was wrong about Kylo being a contradiction. Maybe he really is just her enemy. _So why does this feel like a punch in the stomach?_ She puts on her coat and walks out the door toward the subway.

 

“I need my jacket, hurry!” Kylo groans as he shoves his ticket into the workers hand. She has put a spell on him and he can’t let this be the end. He feels frantic to find her and smooth things out. He rips his black leather jacket out of the employee’s hand and puts it on as he rushes out the door. “REY!” He yells out looking around trying to catch a glimpse. It’s raining which just makes it harder to see. “REY!” He yells again and sees a girl in a red coat with a rainbow umbrella turn slightly to look. _That’s her!_ She turns and starts walking faster toward the subway. He runs after her yelling for her to come back.

 

Finally he catches up to her and grabs her elbow to get her to look at him. “Rey please wait!” He begs. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes and she pushes out her jaw defiantly. It’s clear she wants nothing to do with him, but he just can’t accept that. He feels like he is drowning and he has to fix this. “Please! I’m so sorry about Bazine, she is insane and she doesn’t know what she is talking about. She means nothing to me. She was just lashing out because you were with me.”

 

Rey isn’t sure what to believe but her face softens as he talks. She wants to believe him; wants desperately for this amazing night to have meant something instead of being a huge disaster. So she listens instead of yelling or running away. “Leia would not have picked you for the lead if she wasn’t sure you could do it. Trust me. If she believes in you then you must be spectacular.”

 

He says it with such confidence that she wonders how he could possibly know anything about Leia.

 

She wants to believe him but she needs some time to think. He is definitely a contradiction that she can’t seem to figure out. “I’ll see you around Kylo.” She sighs sadly and she closes her umbrella, “It’s been a long day and I just want to go home. I just need to go home.” She turns and runs down the steps of the subway.

 

He is left standing alone in the rain. _She’s going to be the death of me_ he thinks. He smirks and arranges for an Uber on his phone. The entire ride home he thinks of how he can arrange to see her again. Club Maz may be his new favorite place.

 

_I think I’m drowning_

_Asphyxiated_

_I wanna break the spell_

_That you’ve created_

_You’re something beautiful_

_A contradiction_

_I wanna play the game_

_I want the friction_

_You will be the death of me_

_Yeah, you will be the death of me_

_Time is Running Out-Muse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	7. Since I met you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday part 1. Rey gets back to dancing at the studio and Kylo can't stop thinking about Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one switches back and forth in points of view. The rest of the story will most likely be done this way since they are interacting more. 
> 
> I was out of town so this took me much longer than I was hoping. I had a lot more planned for this chapter but wanted to get it out faster, so once again I am splitting what I had planned into two chapters. 
> 
> Kylo's painting is Leonid Afremov's Rain Princess 3 which is a limited edition version of his regular Rain Princess painting. It's one of my favorites! Check it out in the mood board.

 

_Fear and panic in the air_

_I want to be free_

_From desolation and despair_

_And I feel like everything I saw_

_Is being swept away_

_When I refuse to let you go_

_I can’t get it right_

_Get it right_

_Since I met you_

_Map of the Problematique- Muse_

Rey spends the weekend in bed wallowing in self-pity. She needs it. She tried it her friend’s way at the club on Friday but that ended up being a disaster so she does it her way the rest of the weekend. She puts on her most comfortable leggings and her biggest sweatshirt and doesn’t move from her bed. She ices her ankle; it is still sore from rolling it in the ballonné on Friday. She orders take out and Rose brings it in to her. Finn and Poe stop by each day trying to convince her to get out of the house or to watch Netflix with them but she sticks to her guns and stays in her room. Jess and Paige bring cookie dough ice cream and she eats it straight out of the carton but still won’t leave her room or really talk to anyone.

 

Her thoughts shift back and forth from her situation with Snoke and wondering what the heck happened with Kylo. He is such a mystery to her. He is so intense and seems so angry but he was so sweet on Friday at the club. She had so much fun with him until that girl showed up. She seemed like a girlfriend but then Kylo had told her that the girl meant nothing to him. Ultimately she decides that since he works for the enemy he is off limits to her.

 

On Monday morning she decides not to think about Kylo anymore. She has to get out of bed because she has to go to the dance studio. After spending the weekend in bed her limbs feel like lead and her daily run feels slow and sluggish and to top it off it is raining. _Not a great start_ she thinks. It isn’t raining hard, more like a drizzle, which actually fits her mood. She is past the downpour of emotions but there is still pain and stress dampening her mood. She pauses before entering the park and does some stretching in an attempt to warm up her muscles a little bit more.

 

When she feels like her muscles are warmed up enough she runs along the path in the park and follows the loop up to the picnic tables. She goes around the loop a few times and then runs back down to circle the pond. Half way around the pond she sees movement to her right and freezes. She quickly ducks behind a tree and pretends to tie her shoe.

 

~~______________~~

On Friday night Kylo dreams of rain, rainbows and the color red; it isn’t the red that normally haunts his dreams but instead a red that makes him smile. His weekend consisted of working out trying to burn off some frustration and sketching out a few ideas for some paintings. Several of his sketches ended up looking very similar. It’s an image he can’t get out of his brain and he knows he won’t be able to stop thinking about it until he paints it. It has been the subject of his dreams each night since he left Club Maz. He can’t stop thinking about it. He can’t stop thinking about _her._

 

Monday morning he knows he needs to find some new inspiration. He doesn’t think the picture he wants to paint will go over well at First Order Studios so he walks to work and stops at his favorite park. He decides to focus on the pond. Usually the water effect in his paintings is rain on the ground but he considers having the effect for his new painting be on the pond. He takes some pictures of the pond and the area surrounding it.

 

As he turns back to the path he notices a girl with brown hair quickly ducking down behind a tree. He peeks around the tree and realizes it is Rey; she is playing with her shoe. He chuckles to himself and asks loudly, “Tiger’s comin?” He watches her closely and sees that she closes her eyes and lets out a small groan as she stands up. “I thought your friend said I wasn’t a tiger anymore,” he continues playfully.

 

“Oh hey Kylo, I was um, I was just tying my shoe.” She stutters and blushes furiously. She feels completely embarrassed to be caught hiding and didn’t even realize her reaction was the exact same as the drinking game from the club on Friday. “And you are right Paige did say you aren’t a tiger anymore.”

 

“Why were we the tigers in the first place?” he questions trying to keep the conversation going. He knows she wasn’t tying her shoe but doesn’t want to press it.

 

“Um…” She pauses wondering how to explain that his presence at the club was a source anxiety for her so they turned him and his friends into a drinking game. “Well, Friday was really bad at the Supremacy and seeing you guys there just reminded me of what happened so Paige tried to turn it into a game to help me relax.”

 

“It seemed to help; you looked like you were having fun.” He replies automatically will a small smile and then his eyes open wide in horror as he realizes that he pretty much admitted to watching her. “I mean…it looked like all of you were having fun.”

 

“It did help actually.” She smiles and then bites her lip debating what else to say. “I had a lot of fun that night, at least until your girlfriend showed up.”

 

Kylo flinches when she says girlfriend, “That was Bazine and she is NOT my girlfriend. She is an ex girlfriend that won’t leave me alone. I am really sorry that she lashed out at you.” He really wants to make it clear that he is not interested in Bazine so he adds, “She is a fucking nut job.”

 

She laughs and then shyly says, “Oh. That’s… I’m sorry for assuming, it just really seemed like you two were involved.”

 

“It’s ok.” He says immediately happy to hear her beautiful laugh, “I had a lot of fun talking to you and dancing; I’m just sorry it ended on such a bad note.” He doesn’t want this to end but knows he needs to get to work and she wants to finish her run so he follows up with, “I’ve got to get to work, but can I see you again some time?”

 

Surprised she gasps and then opens her mouth to respond and then closes it. She isn’t sure how to respond. Part of her wants to get to know him a little better but she had resolved just an hour ago not to think about him again. _He still works for the enemy_ she thinks. “Um, yeah I’m sure I will see you around at the Supremacy if you end up doing the paintings.”

 

He furrows his brow in response. He meant more like a date but maybe he wasn’t clear enough, _or maybe that was just a rejection_ his mind supplies. He sighs and says, “Oh. Ok…I guess I will see you around then.” Dejected he starts to walk away and says, “It was good to see you Rey.”

 

“Yeah you too.” She responds quietly realizing he seems upset. “Bye Kylo!” She yells over her shoulder as she starts to run again. _Was he really upset_ she wonders? She feels strangely sad that she brushed him aside but as she runs home she reminds herself that he works for Snoke and she needs to focus all of her attention on dancing.

 

~~______________~~

 

Kylo walks into First Order Studios not really sure how he got there. After her rejection he had walked on autopilot to work with his eyes glazed over. He spent the entire walk going over his conversation with Rey trying to figure out if his question was too vague or if she had really flat out rejected him. He honestly can’t remember anyone or anything from his walk, which is frankly extremely concerning to him. _How did I avoid getting hit by a car; seriously, did I even use the crosswalk?_ He wonders in shock.

 

The shock is clear on his face as he enters the gallery. Phasma frowns and looks at him with concern. “Are you ok?”

 

Kylo clears his throat and shakes his head, “ahem…um, yeah I’m good.”

 

“Ok. If you are sure,” she pauses and looks at him carefully. Then she changes the subject to avoid awkward silence since they both know something is bothering him. “What happened to you on Friday night? Hux said you were going to come join up with us and then Bazine went looking for you. She said you were acting weird and then ran out of the club.”

 

“That’s NOT how it happened.” Kylo bites out and practically vibrates with anger at the mention of Bazine. “Mitaka and I were with the dancers. Bazine walked up and saw me talking to that girl, Rey. She said some horrible things about Rey.”

 

“Oh. That does sound like Bazine. Was Rey ok?”

 

“She got really upset and ran out. So I ran after to try and tell her sorry about Bazine. I left after that because I didn’t want to see Bazine again.” He debates asking Phasma’s opinion on Rey’s rejection but decides to stick with the conversation about Bazine. “I really wish I could avoid her.”

 

Phasma starts to laugh, “I know. I’m still really sorry about that. I invited Mitaka but Bazine was in the room. She probably cornered him after I left.”

 

“Oh well,” he sighs shrugging his shoulders. “Where is Hux?”

 

She hesitates and finally quietly replies, “He is meeting with the printer. He was ranting about problems with your latest painting because of the color.”

 

Kylo huffs, “I figured he would be on the war path about that. It really won’t be that big of a deal and I have an idea for some limited edition prints that will bring in extra money. I will talk to him later.” He rolls his eyes and then heads down the hall to his studio.

 

~~______________~~

 

At La Résistance Studios the dancers all crowd around Rey giving her words of encouragement and asking her how her weekend went. Finn and Poe single her out to check up on her. “Peanut, we have just been worried about you!” Finn says when she tries to push them away.

 

“How is your ankle feeling?” Poe asks her. He wanted to check on how her weekend was and how she was handling the stress but he knew this was the safest question. “Is it ok to dance on it today?”

 

“It’s actually fine. I went for a run this morning and it doesn’t hurt at all. It was a bit stiff at first, but after doing some warm up and stretching it feels great!”

 

“Tell them who you ran into on your run Rey!” Rose interrupts and nudges her with her elbow; Paige and Jessika joining the group right along with her.

 

“Rose!” She had told her as soon as she got home but hadn’t planned on telling anyone else; now she has no choice. “Ugh fine! I was running at the park I usually go to and I ran into Kylo. It was so embarrassing.” She sighs, puts her face in her hands and yells out, “I didn’t know what to do so I ducked down behind a tree and when he saw me he yelled out Tiger’s comin because my reaction was exactly like that game. Mortifying.”

 

They all burst out laughing and Rey can’t help giggling along with them. Then she says, “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!” She looks at Paige squinting and points saying, “This is all your fault! You and that dumb hilarious game!”

 

“All right everyone! Let’s get started!” Leia announces quieting the laughter of the dancers. “I want to focus on the second act today. We have the first act down and everyone did well at the Supremacy.”

 

Rey looks around the room and notices Mitaka sitting on a chair by Leia. “What is he doing here?” She murmurs quietly and nods her head in his direction. Rey groans and hangs her head. She was hoping to talk to Leia in private before practice started to ask her to cast someone else but she didn’t get the chance.

 

“I invited Mitaka here to see the story of the second act.” He waves enthusiastically at Rey and her friends. They nod and wave back hesitantly.  

 

“Guess that answers that question,” Rey mumbles to Poe and Finn.

 

“So we will need to block for the graveyard.” Leia continues ignoring Rey’s reaction. “I want to focus on the Wilis so we will have the company working first. Remember these are all maidens that were betrayed by their lovers and died of broken hearts. The tone is crucial for this scene.”

 

The female dancers excitedly get in position in two rows while Rey, Finn and Poe watch. “Now Finn as Hilarion you will be mourning at Giselle’s grave when the Wilis show up, so you need to get in position!” He quickly heads over to where the grave would be and Leia continues giving instructions. “Paige as Queen Myrtha you are bitter and merciless. I want to see that! Dig deep and give me that emotion. Your goal is to punish any man you see.”

 

Rey turns to Poe as they wait for their entrance. She takes a deep breath and then admits what she had been debating about all weekend. “I’m going to tell her to cast someone else when I get the chance. I just thought I should let you know.”

 

He whips his head in her direction quickly and stares at her with his mouth gaping open. “Rey!” He finally says, “You can’t do that! We have been working so well together. We would have to start all over.” He takes her hand and pulls her toward him, winks and then says, “plus you have to admit we have great chemistry.”

 

Flustered she pulls her hand away and turns away. “I will think about it. I guess we will see how rehearsal goes the next couple of days and then I will decide.”

 

“Ok all the Wilis will now chase away Hilarion! You will exit the stage for now…Perfect! Paige comes to Giselle’s grave to raise her spirit and we need you Rey!”

 

~~______________~~

Kylo turns on the first Three Days Grace album and preps his palette with his usual black and white drops of paint and begins mixing variations of gray. He stops and taps on the top of the palette debating what he will paint. Both of the options he has in mind require some color and he bites his lip trying to decide if it is worth fighting Hux.

 

“Fuck it!” he mumbles and pulls out the different colors and drops them onto edge of the palette in a circle pattern while singing along to ‘Just Like You’. He has his black and white with shades of grey mixed between them. Next to the black moving counter clockwise he puts burnt umber, then burnt sienna, yellow ochre, carmin, ultramarine, cerulean blue, violet, Persian blue, lemon yellow, winsor yellow, cadmium yellow, orange, cadmium orange, winsor orange, cadmium red, and finally cadmium red deep completes the circle next to the white. It’s the pattern he learned so long ago and years later he still follows the same routine; just like his grandfather.

 

He holds up the palette knife deciding to paint the pond at the park from one of the pictures he took that morning but then ‘I Hate Everything About You' starts to play and a smile crosses his face. _I hate everything about you, why do I love you?_ It reminds him of the annoying dancers; he hated the idea of being around them but yet he can’t stop thinking about Rey. The lyrics make him laugh and he decides to go for it and paint the image that has been tantalizing his brain all weekend.

 

He starts in the center of the canvas leaving an empty space in the shape of a person he begins to use white and light grey as a light source around the person he will eventually paint. He works his way along the bottom half of the painting adding darker greys and black then uses a clean palette knife to smudge the paint together to create the rain effect on the ground. Then he focuses on the trees in the background he keeps them black and white with grey mixed in. He chooses to have a main tree stand out by adding burnt sienna, cadmium orange, winsor yellow, cadmium red and a few spots of cerulean blue to the trunk and branches. On the right side he paints bright colorful buildings that add life to the painting. He finishes in the center of the canvas with a rainbow umbrella and a woman wearing a red coat; a painting of a princess walking away in the rain.

 

Phasma peeks in to see how his current painting is going and she squeals in delight, “Oh My God! Kylo it is beautiful! What is this one called?”

 

He chuckles and gives her a small smile, “Rain Princess.” He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “Hux is going to freak when he sees it but this will work perfect for some limited edition prints.”

 

“Oh poo. Who cares what he thinks? How did you come up with this concept? It is gorgeous.” She moves closer and takes in every small detail.

 

“I dreamt about it all weekend. It’s something I saw on Friday at Club Maz.” He whispers staring at the umbrella. It’s exactly how he pictured it but he feels slightly sad. He can’t seem to get things right with Rey.

 

“Kylo is that…I think I know who that is. Did you paint…” Phasma awkwardly tries to ask about the subject of the painting but he cuts her off. “Phas it doesn’t matter, the person isn’t important. It’s just a person I saw on the street and I thought it would make a great painting. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

 

“Okay, but…”she tries to press him for an actual answer.

 

“I actually have to go. I need to go to La Résistance and talk to Leia about getting a recording so I can pick poses to paint. You are supposed to be the liaison right? Want to come with me?” He desperately wanted to change the subject but knows he probably should not have invited her to come. He knows he could easily call and ask for a recording to be sent over.

 

She squints her eyes slightly and looks him over and then shrugs and says “Sure! Maybe we will see Rey!” She winks at him and bumps him with her hip.

 

“It’s not like that Phas.” He groans frustrated that his friend can read him so well. “Come on let’s go!” He knows it is a pathetic excuse to go to the dance studio, but he just wants to see Rey again. Ever since she walked into his life he has realized how lonely he has been. However, every time he is around her something goes wrong and he just can’t get it right. He isn’t ready to let go yet though. He is even willing to face his ghosts just for a chance to see her for a few seconds.

 

_I can’t get it right_

_Get it right_

_Since I met you_

_Loneliness be over_

_When will this loneliness be over?_

_Loneliness be over_

_When will this loneliness be over?_

_Map of the Problematique- Muse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I would love to know what you think!


	8. Your time is now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday part 2. Kylo and Phasma visit the dance studio and find Mitaka observing practice at the dance studio. The dancers work on Act 2 of Giselle and we meet a new character. 
> 
> At the end of chapter 7 Kylo and Phasma decide to go to the dance studio and the dancers are in the middle of blocking Act 2 of Giselle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In chapter 4 Mitaka learns the plot of Act 1 of Giselle. Chapter 7 and 8 he learns the plot of Act 2. I know it is a lot of dialogue but I wanted to tell the story of the ballet Giselle because it isn't as well known as others like Swan Lake. 
> 
> Again the painting of Kylo's is Leonid Afremov's Rainbow Princess 3 a special edition version of his Rainbow Princess. 
> 
> Dance terms in the note at the end.

 

_Change everything you are_

_And everything you were_

_Your number has been called_

_Fights, battles have begun_

_Revenge will surely come_

_Your hard times are ahead_

_Butterflies and Hurricanes- Muse_

Rey prances to the spot where Giselle’s spirit is supposed to be raised from her grave by Queen Myrtha as the company of Wilis chases Hilarion off the stage. She begins her solo but struggles with her first penché. She had never had a problem with them until they performed at the Supremacy but now she feels like she has a mental block.

 

“That’s ok Rey, we will work on your penché later just keep going! Follow Paige and the rest of the Wilis to the side of the stage. I want half of you on each side in straight lines.” Leia calls out. “Alright Poe time for Duke Albrecht to mourn at her grave.”

 

“So she really died?” Mitaka looks at Leia completely dumb founded. “I thought they just made you think she died in the first act.”

 

“Yes she died Mitaka. It is a romantic tragedy.” Leia answers with a smile and a laugh. “POE! At least try to act like the love of your life has died. You should be crying in anguish.” He frowns and tries to made a sad face but he just ends up looking constipated.

 

Rey laughs and then whisper shouts across the stage, “Poe! If it helps imagine BB8 died.” He looks at her like she has stabbed him and his eyes well up with tears.

 

“Yes! Just like that! That was perfect Poe.” Leia shouts excitedly. “Do that every time. Rey you are up, follow after him for the pas de deux. This should look like Duke Albrecht is begging Giselle for forgiveness. Rey I want you to look kind and forgiving; even though you have joined the Wilis you still care for him and don’t want him to suffer.”

Rey reluctantly joins Poe. The penché is a move that appears frequently in the graveyard pas de deux. She knows she needs to stay focused and keep her movements slow and controlled. She goes up on pointe and into an arabesque and then slowly leans forward as she rolls her foot back down flat. She smirks excited that her penché was perfect this time and keeps dancing through the rest of the pas de deux.

 

During a lift Poe mumbles, “BB8? That was a low blow!”

 

Rey smiles at him as she goes up on pointe and rests her head on his shoulder in a small embrace. She whispers in his ear, “I know! We all love your cute little dog. I just knew that would give you the right emotion.” Then she pulls away and moves across the stage towards Paige to follow Queen Myrtha and the Wilis off stage.

 

“Finn get in position! Queen Myrtha and the Wilis will chase you because they have cursed you to dance until you die. You need to show me that you are frantic and dancing against your will,” Leia yells out.

 

Rey watches as Finn dances across the stage. His execution of the steps and the emotion he is supposed to convey is perfect and Rey can’t help smiling. She does a little clap than lets him know he is doing well.

 

“Good Finn! Move to stage right, that is were the lake will be. Paige make sure you follow him and make it look like you are forcing him to his watery grave.” Finn acts as if he is drowning in the lake and then joins Mitaka to watch the rest of the practice.

 

“Dude your character got the shit end of the stick!” Mitaka whispers and shakes his head. “You fall madly in love with the girl, try to warn her about the liar she is in love with, then you mourn for her and finally you are cursed to die by those weird spirits just because you were at her grave.”

 

“Yeah I have always felt bad for Hilarion.” Finn agrees and shrugs his shoulders.

 

“Alright everyone final scene! Queen Myrtha and the Wilis see Albrecht and curse him. Giselle dances for him and breaks their curse.” Leia waits for Poe to stop dancing as Rey dances more fiercely.

 

“Wilis I need you each to return to your graves. Rey you will decide not to join them instead choosing to move on and then I want an extremely emotional goodbye as you go back to your grave.” Leia watches with her hand over her heart as a tear streams down Rey’s face while she says goodbye through dance. “Perfect Rey, that was amazing! Poe, I need you completely devastated as you slowly dance off the stage.”

 

Rey walks over to Mitaka as Poe finishes the sad final moments of the ballet. “Hey Mitaka!” She greets him cheerfully, “What did you think?”

 

“You were amazing. This is such a sad story; I really wasn’t expecting it to be so sad!” Mitaka answers with a lost look as watches Poe leave the stage completely broken. “Wait! That’s how it ends? She is just dead and he is just sad and alone?”

 

“Like I said before not all romances have a happy ending.” Leia cuts in to their conversation. “She forgave him and then loved him enough to sacrifice her place with the Wilis to save him. And technically he still has Bathilda the woman he is betrothed to.”

 

“Yeah but he doesn’t even love her. It’s so sad.” Mitaka responds with a look of defeat. “Thank you for inviting me to come see the rest of the story. If you don’t mind I would like to stay and watch the rest of practice today.” _That way I have something to report back to Snoke_ he thinks.

 

Leia eyes him warily but then gives a cheery response, “Of course!” She turns back to the group of dancers and announces the plans for the rest of the afternoon. “We will be starting at the beginning of Act 1 but we will have Tallie stand in for the part of Giselle.”

 

Rey flushes and realizes all the dancers have turned to look at her reaction to the news that Tallie will be practicing her part. She attempts to maintain a neutral expression; Tallissan (Tallie) Lintra was cast as the understudy for Giselle. _It makes sense to have her practice as the understudy_ she tries to remind herself. She takes a deep breath and tries not to think that she might be being replaced.

 

Leia turns to address Rey privately, “This is just to make sure she knows the part. While we practice I want you to practice your part and work on strengthening your ballonées and penchées.”

 

Rey nods, grabs her bag and water bottle and rushes off the practice stage. When she is down the hall she wipes her eyes furiously trying to hide her tears in case someone followed her. She picks her favorite practice room. It is a smaller room that is hardly ever used because it is too small for bigger groups. It is perfect for practicing solos and working on technique.

 

For a while she practices her parts of Act 1 with the music but struggles to focus. She stops and turns on music from a playlist on her phone and starts to dance just for her.

 

~~______________~~

 

As Kylo grabs his leather jacket Phasma pulls her phone out of her pocket and takes a few pictures of the new painting. She texts a copy to Hux hoping to combat some of the tantrum that was sure to follow.

 

 **Phasma: He calls it Rain Princess**.

**Hux: God Damn it! Color again?**

**Phasma: Hux please don’t freak out, he says it can be done as limited edition**

**Hux: I think I have it figured out with the printer. Hopefully Snoke won’t freak out.**

**Phasma: I know it is different but maybe this will be a good thing.**

**Hux: What’s this limited edition idea?**

**Phasma: You’ll have to ask him…**

**Hux: I’ll be back soon**

**Phasma: We are headed over to the dance studio for pose ideas.**

**Hux: K**

“So, Uber or subway?” Kylo asks as they walk out of the studio and lock up the gallery. Usually Snoke orders town cars for business meetings, but this is an impromptu visit and he would really rather keep it simple.

“I brought my car today, I can just drive.” She grimaces as she looks over at him, not sure how he will respond. She knows he refuses to drive his own car and he hates being in the front seat. If Hux were with them it wouldn’t be a problem because he would take the front seat and Kylo could sit in the back. Without Hux he either has to take the front seat or he sits in the back and she feels like a chauffeur and she hates that.

 

“Fine but I’m sitting in the back” he groans and stomps toward her car.

 

“Really? You still won’t sit up front? It’s been 5 years Kylo.” She looks at him and sees the panic in his eyes and immediately regrets saying anything. “I’m sorry. It’s fine if you sit in the back. Let’s go!”

 

Kylo gets in the back seat and ignores Phasma for the entire ten-minute drive to the dance studio. When they get to the studio he gets out of the car before she even turns it off and he walks up to the door stopping as soon as he walks in. The smell of the studio overwhelms him with memories and he debates turning around and walking out. Phasma bumps into him and mumbles, “Let’s go big guy, I know you are mad at me but we came here for a reason.”

 

They follow the sound of music and chatter and make their way to the practice stage. Mitaka sees them and gestures for them to join him. “What the fuck is he doing here?” Kylo growls and glares at Phasma. “How should I know?” She bites out defensively and stalks off toward Mitaka and Leia.

 

“Phasma, Kylo! What are you guys doing here?” Mitaka greets them confused and a little apprehensive. He can see that Kylo is not in the best mood and isn’t sure how to navigate the conversation.

 

Kylo surveys the dancers while Phasma explains why they are there. He finds Poe dancing with a blonde girl. Finn and Rose he sees standing at the side of the stage and they wave when they see him. He turns again and sees Paige and Jessika approaching. “Hey Kylo!” Jessika greets him, “What’s up?”

 

“Hey Jess, Hey Paige” He awkwardly nods at each of them. “We are here to start figuring out what poses I’m going to paint for the promotional material.” He looks around still not finding the one person he wants to see. He turns back to Paige and frowns. “Where’s Rey? I thought she was playing Giselle.”

 

Jessika and Paige look at each other and then turn to Leia hoping she will give an explanation. Kylo ignores Leia and keeps looking at the girls waiting for a response. “Tallie is practicing the part in case Snoke decides we need to switch principal dancers.” Leia begins to explain.

 

He turns to Leia, glares and then barks, “So where is Rey?” She looks at him confused wondering why he cares. As far as she knew he had barely even seen her at the Supremacy. She furrows her brow and doesn’t try to hide her concern. She wonders if Snoke sent him to mess with Rey.

 

Mitaka fumbles to answer unable to sit in awkward silence any longer, “room…alone.” Kylo looks at Mitaka and gestures for him to continue. Mitaka sighs and tries again, “She is in a practice room going over her part.”

 

“You’re replacing her?” Kylo barks out glaring at Leia. She tries to get him to calm down and begs him to meet her in his office. Instead he storms off toward the practice rooms to try to find Rey. He knows she has been upset thinking she may be replaced and knows this must feel like salt in the wound.

He follows the sound of music down the hallway. As he approaches the smallest practice room he hears the song ‘Mad World’ and peers through the small window on the door. He sees Rey sink to the floor with her face in her hands as he hears the lyrics:

 

_All around me are familiar faces_

_Worn out places, worn out faces_

_Bright and early for the daily races_

_Going nowhere, going nowhere_

_Their tears are filling up their glasses_

_No expression, No expression_

_Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow_

_No tomorrow, No tomorrow_

 

The sight of her on her knees sobbing shatters his heart into a million pieces and he can’t bear seeing her like this. He knows she isn’t interested in him; but he would do anything to make her smile, to hear her laugh. So he does the first thing that comes to mind. He opens the door, walks right past her over to the IPhone dock her phone is plugged into and changes the song.

 

“Kylo,” she gasps completely surprised and confused. She didn’t expect anyone to find her in this tiny practice room let alone Kylo Ren. “What are you doing here?”

 

He ignores her question and walks towards her until he is towering above her as ‘Stay with me’ starts to play. He holds out his hand to help her up. She stares at it confused and then looks him in the eyes. “Join me,” he says looking at her with intense amber eyes and then very gently, voice quivering slightly, he adds, “please.” Slowly she takes his hand and as he helps her up he pulls her in close and begins to dance.

 

It’s a simple slow dance, nothing fancy this time. He looks her in the eyes and sees the tear tracks that have run down her face. Slowly he puts his hand on her cheek and wipes the tears away with his thumb. “It’s going to be ok,” he whispers and puts his hand back on her waist.

 

“I don’t know why I’m reacting like this,” she breathes. “I planned all weekend to tell Leia to give my part to someone else but now that she is having Tallie practice it I know I don’t really want that.”

 

Without breaking eye contact he dips her and she responds with a gasp as he says, “If you really want it you should fight for it. Don’t let anyone take it away from you.” He pulls her up out of the dip and rubs slow circles on her back while they continue dancing.

 

“I don’t want to fight Tallie,” she replies breathlessly then clears her throat and continues, “she is a friend and I should be happy for her and the rest of the company if it helps them be able to perform.”

 

He shakes his head at her response still gazing deep into her eyes. “I don’t mean fight Tallie. I mean you should take the criticism you have been given and use it. Train hard and prove them wrong.”

 

“Maybe. I don’t know why I’m struggling so much.” She sniffles and breaks eye contact suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the intensity in his eyes. “I’ve just never felt so alone.”

 

He leans in and whispers in her ear, “You’re not alone.” She gasps in surprise and pulls back to look him in the eyes again and she doesn’t know why but she replies, “Neither are you.” Those three words make his head spin and gives him a little more courage.

 

As the song ends he leans in close, so close that their lips almost touch while singing softly, “Oh won’t you stay with me, cuz you’re all I need.” He takes a deep breath and sings along with the last line, “But darling stay with me” and then lightly brushes his lips against hers.

 

The change in music breaks the spell and she moves to turn off the new song. _Oh my god, I just kissed her_ he starts to panic. Concerned that she will freak out he frantically tries to think of something to say; anything to move passed the kiss. “I could help you,” he blurts out. “What are the steps you are struggling with?”

 

She turns and frowns at him confused by the kiss and then the change in his tone of voice. She tries to look him in the eye but he avoids eye contact. “You want to help me with ballet?” She turns her head to the side as she examines his response.

 

He laughs and reminds her he has dance history. “I mean I know you said you learned ballroom from your moms friend, but ballet is so different.” She starts to giggle, “But to answer your question I have been having problems with my ballonné and my penché.”

 

“I can help with that!” He says over enthusiastically and he can tell she doesn’t believe him. He isn’t ready to tell her why he can help her though. “Just trust me. Give me a chance and if it doesn’t help I will leave you alone.”

 

“I guess it can’t hurt to try right?” She shrugs her shoulder and then moves to the middle of the room.

 

“Right. Let me see both moves.” He moves a little closer and watches intently as she performs each move. The penché she goes up on pointe, goes into an arabesque, bends forward and wobbles a bit as she lowers herself down. The ballonné looks good for the first couple moves across the floor but on the third her ankle rolls slightly like it did at the supremacy.

 

“Ok. That wasn’t bad. You have the mechanics of the moves down, but you need to do some strengthening exercises. You just need to go back to the basics on these moves and you will be set.”

 

She gawks at him completely baffled by this walking contradiction of a man. “So what do you suggest?”

 

“Alright, go to the barre in fifth position with both hands on the barre.” He pauses while she gets in position. “Now take your working leg in coupé and roll up on pointe in relevé, then back down and then repeat.” She stares at him with her mouth open and moves away from the barre. “What?” He asks suddenly feeling sheepish for trying to help.

 

“Kylo that’s like day one of pointe; It is so basic. And also how in the world do you know all these ballet terms?” She shakes her head in disbelief and debates telling him that she doesn’t need help.

 

He walks up behind her and places his hand on her lower back, lightly pushing her to the barre. “Please just trust me. The Arabesque in your penché and your ballonné are beautiful, but your ankles are a little weak. If you just strengthen your ankles doing some basic steps you will have more control on both moves.”

 

Rey sighs and puts both hands on the barre moving into fifth position. Kylo suggests fixing her turnout just a small amount and she rolls her eyes but complies. She practices going up in relevé with her other leg in coupé over and over trying to have a good attitude. He encourages her and gives a few suggestions. Leia walks in unnoticed as he is talking, “This will help I promise. Practice these steps over the next week with both hands on the barre, then turn to just have one hand and then go back to doing it without the barre.”

 

“He’s right Rey. It will help to strengthen your ankles.” Leia smiles as they both jump and turn to look at her. She rolls her eyes and points out the door, “Benjamin, a word in my office!”

 

Rey turns to him in confusion. _Did she just call him Benjamin?_ He leans in and whispers, “I’ll see you later Rey. Fight for it ok?” He winks at her and then walks past Leia. Leia closes the door leaving Rey alone and confused.

 

 _Did that really just happen?_ She can’t help think she might be going a little mad. She thinks about the dance with Kylo and puts her hand to her mouth suddenly remembering he had kissed her and she lets out a small laugh. Smiling she reaffirms her commitment and determination to keep the part of Giselle. She turns on some music and practices the basic steps Kylo suggested. She decides that she is done being pushed around and that she is going to fight back.

 

_Don’t let yourself down_

_Don’t let yourself go_

_Your last chance has arrived_

_Best, you’ve got to be the best_

_You’ve got to change the world_

_And use this chance to be heard_

_Your time is now_

_Butterflies and Hurricanes- Muse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pas de deux- dance duet, usually a male and a female
> 
> Arabesque- this is a pose that has the ballerina on pointe with one leg up held straight and behind them (pictured above on the left)
> 
> Penché- this starts as an arabesque, the ballerina rolls back down onto a flat foot and bends forward while lifting the straight leg up higher into the air. (pictured above on the right)
> 
> Ballonné- in Giselle this is used as a hopping step across the stage. The ballerina is on pointe on one foot and the other extends forward with the knee slightly bent then they go back flat bringing the leg back in. The move is repeated with a slight hop forward each time they go up on pointe.
> 
> Relevé- rising up to full pointe from flat
> 
> Coupé- toe pointed and foot held next to other leg between the ankle and the knee. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


End file.
